Lavender
by chocolateee
Summary: I’ll be back. In ten years, on your twentieth birthday, I’ll come back. And I’ll find you. I promise. SasuNaru.
1. Goodbye

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**The start of a new fic! Honestly, I don't understand why I seem to have serious ADD and can't seem to finish a story before starting a new one. Oh well at least school's out and it's finally summertime which means more updates…hopefully!**

**Prologue: Goodbye**

**---**

Naruto wiped sweat from his brow nervously. The race hadn't even begun and he was already sweating. That was never a good sign.

Stretching his legs one last time, he glanced at the small crowd that was cheering with excitement, seeking one pair of eyes most. Finally, he found them; dark orbs that pierced his blue ones. He saw Sasuke give him a warm smile and a thumbs-up, which he returned shyly.

When he heard the whistle for the runners to take their place, Naruto skipped happily to his line and crouched down. He could feel adrenaline rush through his veins. This was it. This was the yearly relay race in his class and he had wanted to participate more than anything. He wanted to prove himself, not only to his fellow classmates, but to Sasuke as well.

BANG.

He took off, sprinting as fast and as hard as his legs could carry him. He was keeping a good, slow pace so far, but as he saw others whiz by him, Naruto felt it was necessary to boost up his speed. Kicking it up several notches, he felt his legs begin to burn as he pushed himself harder and harder. He needed to complete this race…he needed to complete this race…

With every step he took though, his breathing suddenly became more increasingly difficult. He could feel his chest tightening and his throat constricting. His breathing was ragged and heavy. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, loud and erratic.

He needed to keep running.

Naruto blinked his eyes rapidly to try and clear his head. He only had a little distance left to run. If he could just reach the finish line…

His vision was becoming fuzzier by the second. The only thing he could clearly see now were black spots floating around in his head. His mind felt dizzy. But Naruto wasn't ready to give up. He _had_ to keep running…

With a sharp gasp of pain, the baton dropped from the blonde's hand.

Sasuke watched at the sidelines as his best friend went down. He had started frowning ever since Naruto had started to look a little pale during the middle of the race. His eyes widened with surprise as he saw two teachers race over to the little blonde boy lying on the ground, gasping for air. Sasuke felt himself move automatically and, the next thing he knew, he was right next to his best friend.

"Naruto!"

"S-Sas…" Naruto tried choking out before his vision faded completely.

---

Iruka was wracked with worry. This was all his fault. There was no way he should've even considered allowing Naruto to participate in that stupid relay. He knew there would've been consequences, and now he would have to pay them.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a nurse standing next to him.

"The doctor will see you now." Iruka nodded and followed her into the patient's room.

There was Naruto, propped up in bed with tubes running through his body. The doctor was standing next to him, writing notes down on a clipboard. His eyes swiveled to the door when he heard it open.

"Umino Iruka?"

Iruka nodded as he sat down next to Naruto and clasped his hand gently.

"You are the boy's adopted father correct? And his closest relative?"

Again, Iruka nodded.

"Then I assume you are well aware of his condition." It wasn't a question. It was more of a statement. Naruto felt his father's grip on his hand tighten just the slightest at this comment.

"Yes," Iruka stated, "I'm aware of his condition."

The doctor closed his clipboard with a snap. "Well, the good news is that he'll still be able to walk." He let those words sink in as Iruka sighed with relief. "The bad news is that he won't be allowed to do anymore running or any sort of physical activity." The doctor saw Naruto's expression drop with those words and tears fill his eyes. He saw Iruka rush to comfort the boy and felt it was his time to leave.

"I think it's best if Naruto stays in the hospital overnight, but he should be free to leave tomorrow." The doctor added as a side note before getting up to the door. He opened it and was surprised to see a little raven-haired boy waiting patiently there.

"Can I see Naruto now?" The boy asked quietly.

The doctor nodded and stepped aside to allow him to enter. Sasuke ran over to the bed and hugged Naruto hard. He didn't know why the blonde was crying, but he knew better than to ask questions at the time.

"Shh Naruto…don't cry."

And Iruka watched, amazed, as Naruto's tears dried almost instantly as he clung to Sasuke like a lifeline.

---

"Oiy. Naruto."

The blonde looked up from the drawing he had been coloring in the classroom to see two girls standing next to him. He barely recognized them. He knew they were from his class, but they never really spoke to him. He wondered what they could want.

A letter was thrust in his face.

"Give this to Sasuke for us."

Naruto blinked in response.

"Why me?" The little boy asked.

Both girls rolled their eyes, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Because you're Sasuke's best friend! All he does is hang out with you…"It seemed as if they were going to add "Although we don't know why" to the end of their sentence, but they thought against it.

"Uchiha Sasuke…he's the cutest guy in the class!"

Naruto only nodded before taking the letter and tucking it away in his pocket.

---

"How are you feeling?"

Naruto smiled. "Fine."

It had been two weeks since the relay race incident. Now, almost every day, Sasuke made sure to ask him how he was feeling. Naruto was truly glad Sasuke cared about him so much.

"Not feeling dizzy?"

"Nope."

"Throat hurting?"

"Nope."

"Not feeling like you're going to pass out?"

"Sasuke!" The blonde sighed, exasperated.

The raven only grinned and continued to push his bike along the dirt path. Sasuke rode his bike to school every day and Naruto walked and it ended up being that Sasuke, ever the courteous gentleman that he was, picked Naruto up and walked him home, so pushing his bike along was the only way Naruto could keep up with him. The blonde had told him countless times that it really wasn't a big deal and that Sasuke could go ahead without him, but the raven refused.

"I still can't believe you didn't eat anything before you ran! That isn't healthy, dobe. That _was_ the reason you fainted, right?" Sasuke asked, a tinge of worry in his voice, calling Naruto his pet name for him that he had developed a while ago.

"Yeah," Naruto said lamely, hoping it wasn't obvious he was lying. "I know it was stupid of me, I won't do it again, I promise Sasuke."

The other seemed satisfied with that answer and the walk home was once again, silent. Naruto then remembered what had happened that morning and reached into his pocket, pulling out the crumpled envelope. He held it out to Sasuke.

"What's this?" The Uchiha wrinkled his nose in distaste as he saw 'Sasuke' written in big, bubbly letters and a heart next to his name.

"Kari and Mina wanted me to give this to you."

Naruto saw Sasuke's eyes flash with anger for a moment. He snatched the letter from the blonde's hand and tore it into pieces. Naruto's eyes widened at what Sasuke had done.

"Why did you do that?!"

Sasuke almost snarled in return. "Because they shouldn't be using you like that! Naruto, those two girls ask me every single day if I'll like them and it's _annoying_! I've never seen them talk to you once! But just because you're my best friend, they think they can use you to pass their stupid love letters onto me? I don't even care what they wrote. It's not worth my time to read." Naruto flinched as he heard Sasuke's words. In all honesty, he had knew that had been true all along, but when he heard Sasuke's harsh tone, it made him accept the reality of those words.

Sasuke's tone softened when he saw how upset he had made Naruto. He didn't mean to get so angry, he just hated it when he had to be the one every one knew and adored, while Naruto was only the "best friend" that no one bothered to care about.

"I'm sorry, dobe. Please don't be upset with me. But I don't want you to be passing on any more notes to me, ok? You know I won't read them."

Naruto shook his head and smiled slightly. He knew, in his heart, Sasuke was trying to protect him. "I'm not upset with you."

Sasuke smiled back with relief.

The walk was silent once again.

---

Naruto looked down at the mess that he had made. He had wanted to finish his painting and only succeeded in getting paint all over himself. Going to the bathroom to wash up, he cried out in pain as he felt himself being shoved into one of the stalls. Eyes shooting open in confusion, he looked up to see Kari and Mina hovering over him, both with mean, angry looks on their faces.

"W-what?" He asked them, mad at himself for having his voice quiver.

"You idiot! How can you screw up delivering a simple letter?! You're so stupid!" Fragments of paper showered down upon him. "We found this outside yesterday. You tore up our letter!"

Naruto felt the urge of defiance so strongly wanting to erupt. "I delivered it! Sasuke was the one who tore it up!"

The door to his stall slammed shut and Naruto tried opening it, only to find it was somehow jammed on the other side and it wouldn't open.

"Yeah right, you little liar!" You just want Sasuke all to yourself!"

"That's not true!" The blonde cried frantically, banging desperately on the door. "Let me out, let me out!"

Cold water suddenly doused over his head and he let out a yelp. He looked up to see two buckets retract quickly and footsteps leave the bathroom. Naruto ceased his banging. He was now cold and wet. He hated the way he let people step all over him. Shivering, he sat on the hard, tile floor and hugged himself, letting the water seep through him, and wishing more than anything he could be a stronger person.

---

"Uzumaki Naruto?" The blonde stood in front of all his classmates as his teacher took in his appearance. His eyes were probably bloodshot from crying and his clothes were damp and wrinkly.

"Why are you all wet?" Naruto refused to respond. He simply curled his hands into fists at his sides and hung his head down, staring at the floor. The teacher sighed as she realized the little boy wasn't going to tell her what had happened.

"Well, we might as well get you changed," she said as she went off to find a spare pair of clothes in the classroom. Naruto knew that now, everyone was whispering about him and he _definitely_ knew someone was burning a hole in his back with their eyes.

Looking up, Naruto saw Sasuke, glaring hard at him.

---

The blonde leaned back against the raven's chest. Sasuke had pulled him away after class to tell them they needed to "talk." Naruto had nodded, going to his cubby to find his outdoor shoes, only to see they were missing. When he told Sasuke this, he had only sighed before telling Naruto to get on his bike. Now, the little raven was peddling both of them, not giving Naruto even a second to argue.

It took Naruto a while to process the fact that they weren't going home, once he saw the route they were taking. No, they were going to the beach instead.

When they got there, Sasuke pulled Naruto off the bike and grabbed his hand, leading him all the way until the blonde felt sand between his toes. Due to the time, there was no one there besides the two of them. Walking around a little, Sasuke picked a random patch of sand close to the water and sat down, taking Naruto with him.

There was a moment of silence between the two. And then…

"Naruto." Said boy looked up to see his friend, who had cast his gaze to the sea, with an almost sort of far-off look.

"It was Kari and Mina, wasn't it?"

Naruto shook his head rapidly. "No! I—I was in the bathroom and I just slipped was all! Really, it—"

"Since when have you started lying to me, dobe?"

Again, it was that same far-off voice, with the same far-off face.

_Longer than you know, Sasuke._ Naruto remained silent, not knowing exactly how to answer.

"I can't believe you let them do that to you! And it was because of me, wasn't it? It was because they wanted to get to me…so they hurt you."

"I wasn't hurt, just a little wet," Naruto tried to lighten the mood. Sasuke turned to stare at him and then looked away again.

"Naruto…I need to tell you something."

The blonde looked up at his friend. Somehow, he knew this wasn't going to be good news, just by the fact Sasuke was calling him by his real name, something he never did unless he was in a particularly serious mood. "What is it, Sasuke?"

"I…" The raven ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm moving."

Naruto felt his heart stop.

"W-what?" He asked, as if he hadn't heard right, though he had heard perfectly clear.

"To the states. Next week." Sasuke answered. "I—I wanted to tell you sooner…I just didn't know when would be a good time."

Naruto's mind was in shock, trying to process the information.

Sasuke was moving. To the states.

His _best friend_ was moving away.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto swallowed deeply. "Well…are you excited?" He didn't want Sasuke to be excited. Not at all.

Sasuke nodded slightly. "Yes and no."

"Yes and no?"

"I'm excited because I like new experiences, you know that about me. But I'm also scared."

Naruto was surprised. Never in his life had he heard Sasuke admit he was scared. Not the time they got lost in the park, or the time he broke his ankle. Sasuke didn't _get _scared. At least, not that Naruto knew of.

"Scared?" He questioned.

Sasuke let out a painful smile. "Yeah. I'm scared. I'm scared for the person I care most about, that I'm leaving behind."

Naruto's surprise grew even greater. Who was this person that Sasuke cared most about? He had never talked about any girls that he had crushes on, although he could probably have gotten any one that he wanted. It was now Naruto's great interest to know whom Sasuke was referring to.

"Who is this person, Sasuke?" Naruto hoped to god it wasn't some girl.

"Well, let's see," the raven began. "The person I care about most is kinda shy and quiet on the outside, but I know that that's not the case if you get to know him."

"He doesn't have the best health. He doesn't like sticking up for himself. He doesn't have too many friends. But to me, he means so much. And I'm scared for him. I'm scared that when I leave, he won't have anyone to turn to; won't have anyone to protect him."

It was now clearly obvious who Sasuke was talking about and Naruto felt himself flush.

_Sasuke…Sasuke cares most about me?_

The two of them had been inseparable and best friends for the longest time. Naruto wasn't sure if he had ever really felt any attraction to Sasuke, other than the longing of having a best friend. He had always been the shy kid that no one ever talked to. Yet Sasuke had chosen him.

"Why…why me?"

Naruto felt an arm enclose around him and pull him close.

"Because, dobe, you see me…when no one else does."

Naruto allowed his head to rest on Sasuke's shoulder and closed his eyes. This was probably the happiest moment of his entire life. He wished it would never end. He wished he could always be sitting on sand in the beach, with Sasuke, the two of them together.

But…Sasuke was going to leave.

He was going to leave him all alone.

Naruto pulled at the arm around him and hugged it close.

"Don't leave," he whispered sadly.

Sasuke sighed and brushed a blonde lock away from the boy's head. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy. He didn't want to leave Naruto behind at all. But…it wasn't his choice.

Reaching into his pocket, Sasuke pulled out two bottles, each one containing some sand and a single lavender flower. He handed one to Naruto.

"I'll be back. In ten years, on your twentieth birthday, I'll come back. And I'll find you. I promise."

Naruto nodded and hugged the bottle close to him. This flower was most likely one from Sasuke's mother's garden. It was beautiful. Naruto swore he would always keep it safe and close to him.

The sun began to set.

Naruto felt his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. He wanted more than anything to fall asleep and to wake up to find Sasuke there. Unconsciously, as he fell asleep on Sasuke's shoulder, he clutched the bottle tighter.

_He'll be back…ten years…_

Sasuke let out a small smile as he saw the sleeping boy resting peacefully.

_Wait for me, dobe. I'll come back for you. I promise_.

---

**Like it? Hate it?**

**Naruto's condition will be explained in later chapters. Anyone who wants to take a guess is welcome. Anyways, I think this fic will be sort of on the back burner for a while, at least until I can update my other stories (which should be soon! I'm in the process of writing another chapter for 'Voulez Vous Coucher Avec Moi' right now!)**

**Reviews motivate me :D**


	2. Sharingan

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Ok not gonna include too much rambling here. But I just must say that this storyline really intrigues even me, which is basically why I'm writing it. So, I'm kind of writing it for myself, but I'm glad other people found it interesting as well! Just so everyone knows, I've got the whole story mapped out, it's just a matter of putting it all down.**

**A few notes…Naruto's condition is only physical so it's not affecting him mentally. So nothing like 'his brain is one of a five year old.' No, that's just the way Naruto is. I know it's a bit out of character, but for the sake of the story to work...anyway Sasuke said he'd return ten years later, on his twentieth birthday, making the two of them ten years old in the last chapter, so like fifth grade.**

**Oh, and there will be some onesided GaaNaru, SasuSaku, and GaaNeji.**

**Chapter 1: Sharingan**

**---**

"_Uchiha Sasuke likes Uzumaki Naruto."_

_Those were the words on that board that greeted me when I walked into the classroom. Everyone was chanting that same phrase loudly, over and over. I could see Naruto blushing heatedly, trying to grab the eraser that was being tossed from one kid to another._

"_Stop it! It's not true!" I heard him say. I caught his eye and he looked down at the floor, embarrassed. _

_I lunged at the kid with the eraser._

"_Erase it!" I yelled at the boy beneath me. He shook his head furiously and continued to chant, "Uchiha Sasuke likes Uzumaki Naruto! It's true! I saw you two chasing each other around outside!"_

_Oh. Obviously in fifth grade, "chasing each other around" definitely classified as liking each other. It didn't matter though. All I cared about was the fact that Naruto probably felt like dying right on the spot. He never liked extra attention._

_I took one last look at the kid underneath me, saw his smirking face, wound up my fist, and punched him. Hard._

_As our wrestling ensued, I saw the eraser roll out of his hand and barely registered that Naruto had picked it up and was hurriedly erasing the board. All the screams and yells of "Fight! Fight!" from the rest of the class were all meshing together. Everything felt like a blur._

_An hour later, once the teacher had come in and cleared that whole ordeal up, I was sitting in a corner of the classroom with a black eye, a bust up lip, and bruised knuckles, while Naruto was busy opening up different sorts of medicine. He dipped a cotton swab in a thick, purplish liquid. I held out my hand._

"_This is gonna sting a little…" Naruto tentatively brushed my knuckles gently with the swab and I winced, quickly retracting my hand and blowing on it, wanting to make the pain go away._

_When I looked back at Naruto, I saw that he had tears rolling down his face._

"_Why're you crying? It's not like you got hurt…" With that said, the blonde looked from my eye to my knuckles and more tears seemed to pour out of his eyes._

"_I know. But this is my fault. I'm the reason _you_ got hurt."_

_I sighed. "Dobe, this isn't your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself for these things. And anyways, you shouldn't cry so much. The more you do, the more people will want to pick on you. You've got to learn to be stronger than this." I didn't think it was necessary to add that it hurt me whenever I saw him cry. Or that whenever he did, the urge for me to protect him became greater._

_Naruto nodded his head and quickly brushed the tears away._

_After a moment, he spoke. "It must really hurt," he said gently. "When I was running that relay, I found it hard to breath and that hurt. And I wasn't even bleeding. You…you've got bruises and cuts. That must hurt worse than what I felt."_

"_It's alright," I added rather stiffly. I didn't need him worrying too much about me._

_I thought back to the relay. I remember him falling down. I remember the hospital car coming. I remember the paramedics yelling. I remember Naruto being strapped down on a gurney, while an oxygen mask was placed over his mouth. I remember the silent ride to the hospital, other than Naruto's laborious breathing. I remember seeing Iruka there in a panicked frenzy. I remembered not being able to go any further because I was not a member of Naruto's family. I remembered waiting. And praying._

_I remembered thinking that, on that day, for the first time, Naruto might leave me._

_It was only too soon that I found out that I would be the one leaving him._

* * *

**Ten Years Later**

* * *

Naruto rode his bike briskly down the dirt path, humming lightly to himself. He had learned to love biking. He felt the warm breeze ruffle his hair. Stopping at an intersection, he saw that familiar sheet of long, silky black hair. 

"Neji!" Naruto called out cheerfully. Neji stopped walking and turned around, greeting Naruto with a wave.

"Ready for work today?" Naruto asked as he peddled over.

"If you mean ready to get dirt shoved up my fingernails once again, then yes, I'm ready," Neji answered with a grin. Naruto grinned back. Then, he let himself look over Neji's appearance. The Hyuuga always wore white, either pants or shirt, for as long as Naruto could remember. Today it was a shirt. It was tight enough to show the well-defined chest muscles, but not too tight so that it was enough to be comfortable. He had paired that up with tan slacks and sandles. Neji's dark hair was gathered up in a loose ponytail, which only seemed to contrast with his pale eyes and skin.

Before the two could speak another word, both heard the distinct roar of a sounding motorcycle. They turned to see Gaara making their way toward them, red hair blowing crazily in the wind. If there was anything to know about Gaara, Naruto had come to learn, it was that he looked tough, with a flaming tattoo right on his forehead, but he was probably one of the sweetest people the blonde had ever met. Gaara pulled to a stop beside him and Neji.

"Hey," he greeted the two of them with nods. He looked at Naruto's bike and gave a small frown.

"Naruto, why do you insist on riding that bike to work every day? I can give you a ride." Gaara patted the seat beside him.

Naruto gave a small smile and shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, Gaara, it's really nice of you. But I like my bike. It feels…like I'm running."

"Well," Gaara scoffed teasingly, "if that's the case, then this will feel like you're flying. Come on, what do you say?"

Naruto laughed but shook his head again. "No thanks Gaara. Oh! I know, how about you give Neji a ride instead?"

Neji's eyes widened as Gaara hesitantly looked at him. He looked away.

"I—I wouldn't trust Gaara driving me anywhere." Gaara simply shrugged his shoulders before saying he would have preferred riding alone anyways. He kicked his motorcycle back to life and rode off, throwing a wave over his shoulder to Neji and Naruto.

As he disappeared further and further, Neji swung an arm around Naruto's shoulders, as the blonde got off his bike to walk with Neji.

"So, Naruto…do you not like Gaara?" Neji asked him questioningly.

Naruto blinked. "I don't…not like him," he said, not quite understanding what Neji was talking about.

"Then why do you always push him away?"

"I don't know…what you mean." Neji turned to look at Naruto and it was clear that the latter really didn't have a clue what Neji was referring to. He mentally let out a sigh, wishing sometimes his friend wasn't so naive.

"You're still waiting for your secret lover, right?" Neji asked, eyes glimmering with amusement. He saw the blonde's cheeks redden just the slightest bit. "Naruto…it's been years, but you're still not giving up huh? I think you've got your head in the clouds…"

Naruto bit his lip as he processed Neji's words.

The two of them reached the greenhouse where they worked to see Lee, the other employee, already there. This surprised neither of them. They both assumed Lee got to work an hour early to run laps. Or to frolic in the flowers… something weird like that.

Naruto busied himself at a table with one of the smaller plants, while Neji went to help Lee. The blonde replayed what Neji had said earlier in his head.

_I think you've got your head in the clouds_…

Shaking that thought off, Naruto noticed that he had dozed off for practically a whole hour. Crap.

"Naruto!"

He turned at the sound of his name being called to see Neji and Lee running toward him. Both looked genuinely upset, and Naruto knew that it must've been some pretty big news, to get either of them that worked up over it.

"What is it?" He asked them, worry setting into his face.

"We just saw some businessman drive away…"

Naruto understood the point immediately. "You don't think…" His worry began to grow increasingly.

Both Neji and Lee shrugged their shoulders. That was all it took. With a start, Naruto took off. He needed to find Gaara. Badly.

Making his way to the smaller building attached to the greenhouse as fast as he could, he saw Gaara sitting inside, reading a magazine with a bored expression.

Naruto rushed over to him. "Gaara, is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"Don't play dumb! Neji and Lee said they saw a businessman here! Your brother isn't really thinking of selling the greenhouse is he?!" Naruto was practically yelling by now. Never in Gaara's life had he seen the blonde so distressed.

"Calm down Naruto. Yeah I saw that businessman and my brother talking, but I don't think it's anything big." Naruto didn't look too convinced.

Gaara sighed. "Look, if it really bothers you, I'll talk to Kankuro about it." He hated seeing Naruto this upset.

"Do you think you could beg him not to sell this place?" Naruto questioned, hopefully.

"Sure I could." Not that Gaara had ever begged in his whole life, to anyone or for anything. But, in Naruto's case, he supposed he could make an exception.

"A-and…will your brother listen to you?" Naruto asked tentatively.

"Of course he will." He would make his brother see his way. For Naruto's sake, he would break his brother's neck before he let him sell the greenhouse.

A wave of relief flooded the blonde and he let out a wide smile. "Thank you Gaara!"

Gaara smiled back in return. He didn't know what it was about Naruto. But it was definitely something, something that had caught Gaara's interest.

"Hmm, I bet the reason you didn't want to sell this place was because then you couldn't see me every day." Gaara joked lightly, half-wishing it was true.

Naruto laughed and punched the redhead lightly. "Actually, it was because I couldn't stand to see my lavenders being taken care of by another." That thought seemed to spark another because his eyes widened with horror as he realized he had forgotten to water them this morning. Waving a goodbye and a "thanks again," he made his way back outside.

"Naruto, wait!" But the blonde was already too far away to hear.

Gaara watched as Naruto went over to his precious flowers. His smile saddened a bit when he saw how Naruto attempted to run, but it looked somewhat more like waddling. He saw the blonde cradle the flowers gently, then sprinkle water over them, before leaning into sniff their scent.

Naruto and him had been friends for the past few years. He had never told Gaara why those specific flowers were so important to him. But…he had told him other things…

Gaara's smile dropped a little more.

_That…poor kid._

---

Flashes of light and screams were the only things that he could see or hear. He took a small breath. He should've been use to this treatment by now. It was nothing new.

The limousine door opened.

He followed Sai, pushing his way through the crowd that police held back. Microphones from newscasters were thrust in his face and cameras were clicking but he ignored both, as well as his adoring fans.

"Sharingan! Sharingan! Can I please have your autograph?!"

Stopping in his tracks, that one voice reaching out to him, he turned around to see a young girl of maybe around fifteen or so. He reached out for the cd and pen.

"W-wait! If it's not too much trouble, c-could I have your real name?" she asked, blushing, obviously flustered to be within such a close proximity of him.

He stared at her for a moment, contemplating her request.

A moment later, he found Sai waiting for him, having escaped the mob. He gave him a pointed look.

"Why did you sign that for her?"

The other simply shrugged, not caring enough to offer a response. Both continued walking. He thought of what he had written.

_My real name…Uchiha Sasuke._

---

"Lookie here," Lee said while he slapped the magazine he had been reading on the table. Both Neji and Naruto crowded over to see.

On the cover was a picture of one of the most gorgeous men Naruto had ever seen in his life. He had choppy bluish-black hair that was blown straight around his face, but spiked up in the back. His skin was pale and he wore a quiet, thoughtful expression on his face. He moved his vision upward and was almost taken aback.

His eyes…

"Isn't he hot?" Lee sighed, while Neji let out a snort. "Oh come on, you have to admit he's good-looking and you're just the slightest bit attracted to him!"

Neji took another look at the picture. "_Just_ the slightest bit." He held his fingers apart about a centimeter to emphasize his point.

"Sharingan?" he asked, pointing to the name that was imprinted below the picture.

"Ah, well that's just his stage name of course. Not many people know of his real name. It's said to be very private information." Lee concluded. Neither Naruto nor Neji wanted to know how Lee seemed to be an expert in this area.

"I heard he just recently came back to Tokyo from the states. I don't know exactly how long he's staying but in the meantime, I say we all go to his concert!" Lee declared loudly and officially, as though he had definitely made up his mind and left no room for any argument. Naruto and Neji looked at each other. The brunette shrugged getting up to ask Gaara if he wanted to go. Lee kissed the picture of Sasuke one last time before getting up himself, leaving Naruto alone.

The blonde looked back at the magazine. He couldn't help himself but let his eyes roam over the picture once again. His breath hitched when he stared into those eyes.

Those painstakingly familiar-looking eyes.

---

Gaara was not in the best of moods. He had just spent the past two hours waiting in line to buy stupid concert tickets to a show he didn't even want to go to, only to have them be sold out before his time to pay. In turn, he had ended up buying a pair from a sketchy looking guy with a large trench coat and shades, despite the warm weather, for an unreasonably high price, only to find he had been scammed and had only been given one ticket for the price of two.

Oh, it had been the best morning ever.

And then when he had returned to the greenhouse to find Naruto, he had offered the ticket to him, seeing as how he had no interest in the Sharingan concert, but the blonde had flat-out refused. He said that they had all agreed to go, and that he wasn't about to go without Neji and Lee, especially considering it was their idea in the first lace.

That was Naruto, always thinking of others before himself.

Well, that left Gaara with a useless, shitty piece of paper that had cost him 4000 yen. The only reason he had offered to go get tickets in the first place was because he had wanted to spend some time alone with Naruto, thinking Neji could keep Lee distracted for a few hours. Or, well, Lee could keep himself distracted for a few hours.

And now Naruto wasn't even going to go.

Gaara was really about ready to smash something.

---

"Move it a little more to the left! No, not that left! Watch out for that cord there, don't tr—be careful with that, it clearly says _fragile_ on it!"

Sai raked a hand through his hair. His eyes fell on the person sitting on the bed, tuning his guitar, not giving a damn about the outside world.

"Ah, well Sasuke, what do you think of this place I got you? Isn't it gorgeous? Spacious and it has a great view! Of course it was just a _tad_ bit expensive…but no matter! I, being the fabulous manager that I am, straightened it all out for you!" Sai didn't expect to hear a "thank you" and he didn't receive one. Instead, he picked through one of Sasuke's open boxes on the floor. He picked up a small sand bottle, containing a single flower inside of it.

"This looks interesting," he said while shaking it up and down. Sasuke looked up from his guitar to see what was so "interesting." Putting his instrument aside, he plucked the bottom from Sai's grasp.

"It's a lavender flower." He set it down on the table gently, next to a picture of him and a few friends from elementary school. Sai grabbed the photograph and stared at it.

"You still have this old thing around? Look how ugly you use to look!" Sai snickered at his own wittiness. Sasuke sighed and plucked that out of Sai's grasp as well, setting it down again, his fingers lingering on the frame.

"What, you still have feelings for your little elementary school friends?" asked Sai jokingly.

Sasuke let his eyes look over the picture. He was surrounded by four other people, but the one closest to him, with a huge grin on his face…

He shook his head, letting out a small frown, before flattening the picture.

---

Naruto sat on the grassy field, staring down at the picture on the magazine. In all honesty, he hadn't been able to put it down. There was something so captivating about it, something that made him wonder…

_It couldn't be…_

The blonde let out a yelp of surprise, feeling a gentle shove from behind, as Neji and Lee plopped down next to him. As a reflex, Naruto hid the magazine close against his chest.

"What have you got there, Naruto?" Neji asked as he prodded the blonde who just shook his head. "Let us have a look. We're your friends, right?" Sighing in defeat, Naruto uncovered the magazine, revealing the picture of the handsome young man.

"Oh I knew it!" Lee shouted excitedly. "Naruto thinks he's hot too!" The blonde simply turned his attention back to the picture, focused intently.

"What's wrong?" asked Neji as he saw how concentrated Naruto looked. He could always tell if something was bothering the other.

"N-nothing. It's just that…well…pretend you once had a really good friend that you knew in elementary school. Do you think that if you saw them again now, you would recognize them?"

"Hmm," Neji swished his long hair over one of his shoulders. "I don't know…it's been a while."

"But what if you were the best of friends?"

"That was then, this is now. I can't say I would definitely remember them."

"I suppose you're right." Naruto took another look at the picture.

Damn those eyes.

"Thinking of your lover?" Neji teased. But when he saw Naruto had not responded, he turned to see the blonde deeply immersed in a staring contest with the photograph. He put two and two together and his eyes widened.

"No way! Naruto, you can't be thinking this Sharingan guy is him!"

Lee turned, shocked, mouth wide and gaping. Naruto let out a small blush.

"N-no! I don't know that for a fact. I…I was just thinking. I mean, I don't know, he looks an awful lot like him…" He trailed off, not knowing how to continue.

There was a short silence before Lee let out a low whistle. "Damn Naruto…never thought you of all people would end up with a global pop star…"

"You know what this means, right?" Neji exclaimed offhandedly. When Naruto shook his head, he filled in the gaps. "It means you _have_ to go to that concert!"

Naruto blinked at the two of them. "But I thought…"

"Don't worry about us! Lee and I will find some way to amuse us. Besides, this could be your only chance to see and maybe meet Sharingan! You have to talk to him! Maybe he's the one you've been waiting for!" Lee nodded vigorously as Neji finished his little speech.

Naruto thought about it. Gaara probably still had the ticket on him. He could go...it could be his chance to at least see if maybe...

_But what if...what if he doesn't remember me?_

---

Night had fallen. Sasuke fell back on his bed, exhausted. He really had appreciated the house Sai had gotten him for his stay in Tokyo, though he would never voice that appreciation out loud. Reaching for his phone next to the bed, he pressed his inbox button.

**You have two new messages.**

**First message.**

"Otouto, it's me."

Sasuke relaxed as he listened to his older brother, Itachi, speak.

"I hope you're doing alright in Tokyo. I know you're old enough to take care of yourself, but at least give me a call sometime so I know you haven't died. Oh, and remember..."

There was a pause. Sasuke couldn't remember the last time Itachi sounded so hesitant.

"If you have any more serious nightmares, let me know and I'm coming there immediately. You've stopped your medication, but still...you know I can't help but worry about you."

**End of Message.**

Sasuke let out a sigh. That was Itachi alright. Short, serious, and to the point. No goodbyes.

**Second Message.**

"Hey Sasuke…it's Sakura."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he let the message play on.

"Just wanted to say hi and ask how you were. The temperature in L.A.'s been pretty much the same without you here. I tried calling your cell phone a little while earlier but you didn't pick up, so I just wanted to make sure you were ok. Anyway, I'm almost done with the work I have here, so we'll meet soon in Tokyo! And…I really miss you. Give me a call soon, ok?"

**End of message**.

Sasuke lay there quietly, thinking over Sakura's words. He let a half-smile cross his lips before falling asleep.

---

**Yeah so obviously Naruto's not the brightest bulb. Gaara's feelings for him are evident to everyone except…well…him. I kinda like how I brought Gaara in, not as he's typically portrayed. Guess I wanted to try something different? Neji's feelings will be revealed a bit more in-depth later. Oh and as for Sakura, she's a pretty important part. You'll get her/Sasuke's past a bit later as well, along with some of Sasuke's emotions. As for his "medication," no worry, Sasuke doesn't have an illness as well! He's just...suffered, I guess you could say.**

**Reviews are much appreciated and I promise, promise, promise if I get a lot, I'll update within the week!**


	3. Concert Blues

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Well…so much for keeping this story in the back of my mind. I'm just really set on writing it right now, much more than any of my other fics. Maybe it's because, once again, I've got the whole story in my head, whereas the other ones I'm sort of making up on the spot, heh.**

**In response to eetheng, you were correct in your review! Yes, this story is based off a Taiwanese drama titled Lavender (hmm…I probably should've mentioned that beforehand huh). I like the story very much as well.**

**And thank you everyone for your reviews, particularly to the people who left long, meaningful ones. I'm glad you guys could take some of your time to give me some feedback.**

**Chapter 2: Concert Blues**

**---**

Neji stood by the counter, rearranging some flowerpots, while Gaara sat opposite him, typing away at his computer. The redhead was a bit shocked at what Neji had told him.

"You're not serious right?"

"Dead serious actually," replied Neji, shifting the pots all different ways to find the best positioning. "He's the one Naruto's been searching for. I'm positive. Of course, Naruto's still a bit unsure, but I just have this weird feeling it's true."

"Naruto…and this Sharingan guy…" Neji saw uncertainty flash across Gaara's face before the redhead stopped typing. The brunette gave a small sigh as Gaara leapt out of the room, intent on finding the blonde.

Gaara caught up to Naruto as he was leaving, watching as the latter was pushing his bike up a hill.

"Naruto!" The blonde turned around, allowing Gaara to catch up to him.

"Oh hi there Gaara. What's up?"

Gaara wanted desperately to ask Naruto about Sharingan but, somehow, he restrained himself. He chewed his lip uncomfortably, not knowing what exactly to say.

_I should just ask him…but…what if I don't want to hear the answer?_

"Did you have something to ask me, Gaara?" The blonde blinked up at him, expectantly.

"N-no, it was nothing." The redhead mentally smacked himself. "I—I just forgot to say goodbye to you, that's all. So…goodbye." Turning around, he hurried off.

Naruto didn't know what to make of Gaara's odd behavior. Never had he heard him stutter before. And his sudden running off…he didn't know what to make of it, but he wasn't going to let it worry him too much either.

Making his way to the park, Naruto smiled serenely, staring at the flowers sprouting up. He watched as two little kids, a boy and a girl, made their way through, holding hands.

"Wow! Look how pretty these are!" The girl said, pointing to a golden sunflower that was growing quite nicely. She leaned down to sniff it.

"You really like it?" The boy asked her. She nodded. Bending down, he broke off the stem and handed it to her.

"For you."

"Oh—thank you!" The two skipped of happily, and Naruto couldn't help but feel happier just by watching the innocent display.

Ah, love was in the air.

---

Sasuke sat in a chair, pen and paper in hand. His stylist was busy working on his hair, while Sai blabbed on endlessly about unimportant issues. He was working on a new song, recording the different notes on the sheet music paper, while tuning his manager out completely.

"—And so your concert tonight will be amazing, trust me. I have the area all scouted and planned out. Excited, Sasuke? Nervous?" If there were an award for the most monotonous, boring voice in the world, Sai would've won it.

"Sai," Sasuke grit out, his patience slowly winding down, "I'm trying to write here. Can you please stop bothering me?"

"Ah, of course Sasuke!" But that did nothing as Sai continued to talk, clearly not understanding Sasuke's subtle message to shut the fuck up.

"So what about the theme for the concert tomorrow, hmm? I was thinking go big, so huge flashes of light and—"

"Whatever you want, Sai. Whatever you want." Sasuke continued writing down notes, not caring about a single word coming out of the other's mouth.

"Oh Sasuke, you act as though having your hair done is the most horrible experience in the world. The stylist team's goal is to try and get the back of that head of yours a bit…eh, not so spiked." Taking the pen and paper from Sasuke's hands, he set it on the counter next to them. "Now, this'll all go faster if you're a bit more cooperative."

That was the last straw.

"Sai, will you just let me write my fucking music?! Seriously, could you please respect me for just a few minutes?!" Sasuke yelled, irritated out of his mind.

"Ah, ah, ah. No need to get upset, Sasuke," Sai spoke gingerly and lightly, as if talking to a child. He pushed him back into the stylist chair. "Now here," he handed him back the pen and paper.

Sasuke let out a loud sigh before dropping both. "Forget it. I can't concentrate anymore." Rubbing his temples to soothe the oncoming headache, he tried not to think about anything else, other than his music.

---

Gaara sat unhappily on a large rock, watching the clouds overhead.

"Well…this sucks." He let out a pout.

_If this Sharingan guy is whom Naruto really wants…well, I mean, there's nothing I can do to stop that. At least if it had been anyone else, I would've been able to compete against him! But…against a pop star…Argh._

Taking out the crumpled ticket from within his pocket, he frowned at it.

_And what the hell am I supposed to do with this thing now?_

He folded the ticket into the form of a paper airplane, giving it a kiss, before sending it flying somewhere in the grass. He didn't bother to look where. It wasn't like it mattered. Naruto wasn't going to go.

"Hey…Gaara!"

Gaara turned his jade eyes to see a familiar looking blonde walking towards him, waving happily. Gaara felt his spirits brighten just the slightest.

"Naruto…how are you?"

"Good, good." Naruto took a seat beside Gaara on the rock. "Listen, I was thinking…I know you offered me a ticket to the Sharingan concert. And I know I turned it down the first time, but…if I told you I changed my mind, would it still be available?" His eyes looked hopeful.

Gaara nodded vigorously. At least now, if Naruto would go, it wouldn't all be a waste. He reached for his pocket, only then remembering what he had done with the ticket. Panicking slightly, his eyes scanned the grass, trying to locate the slip of paper.

_Aha!_ Running over and picking it up, he unfolded the little plane and smoothed out the wrinkles, holding it up for Naruto to see.

"It's right here!"

Upon seeing Gaara's actions, the blonde couldn't help but laugh.

---

Sasuke rubbed his sore neck muscles tiredly. He had spent the rest of the day filming a music video and working on new choreography for tomorrow night's concert. Sai had asked him whether he would liked to have joined him for dinner, but _anything_ would've been better than dinner with Sai, so Sasuke had declined, insisting he had other plans.

His plans for the night qualified for going to some random bar. Stepping into the lowly dimmed room, he noticed it wasn't too crowded. Perfect. He could hear some whispers of 'Sharingan' here and there, but he ignored them.

Making his way to the pool table, he began to set up a game. It was then that he noticed a presence of another near him. He looked up to see a blonde girl, tall, with her hair up in a ponytail. She was wearing a plain, white dress. Her blue eyes raked over Sasuke's body once, and Sasuke couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted. She was just like every other girl that had been infatuated with him for his looks.

"Can I join?" She asked breezily, taking a sip of some fruity looking drink.

"I don't like winning from girls." Sasuke eyed the white ball, lining up his stick.

She grinned. "How exactly do you know you'll beat me?"

Sasuke smirked. "How much you want to bet?"

"Betting with money isn't any fun," she eyed the pool table. "I say, winner gets to take anything from the loser. Well, anything _on_ them anyways. So, what do you say?"

Sasuke gave her a long, hard stare. Oh, she was good. If it was one thing that clouded his judgment, it was his ego. She knew the right buttons to push. He could see the corners of her lips turning upwards. She knew he wouldn't refuse.

And he didn't.

Instead, he tossed her a stick and the game began.

Sasuke hated to admit it, but the girl was pretty damn good. He had about a quarter of his balls still on the table, while she was down to one. It was his turn and there were no open opportunities for him. So he opted for hitting the ball into a corner, making it unable for her to reach her last ball.

She grinned when she saw the tactic he was using. Leaning over, she gave the ball one hard shove and watched as it bounced on each wall once, before moving slowly, and landing in the hole.

Sasuke did have a big ego, but he wasn't a sore loser. He dropped his stick on the table, gave her a look as if to say, "you knew I was going to lose in the first place" and hopped onto a bar stool, ordering a bottle of vodka. She plopped down beside him, not saying a word. It was then Sasuke remembered their bet.

"So," he began, "what exactly do you want from me?"

The blonde girl pondered it for a moment before smirking.

"Your car keys."

Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned forward. When his mind was working logically, he would've flat out told the girl no and to fuck off. But…for some reason, his mind had decided to temporarily shut down on him. Reaching into his pocket, he fished out his keys and threw them down in front of her.

The girl's smirk got wider as she snatched them up.

"Meet you in the car," was all she said before getting up and leaving.

Sasuke took a long swig of his drink.

It was going to be a long night.

---

"Sasuke, I swear to God if you're still in there by the time I get up these stairs, I am going to kill you."

Sai made his way up to the second floor of Sasuke's condo to see the raven lying on his bed, shirtless and passed out. The blankets were everywhere, while random clothing and beer bottles littered the floor. Sai swore loudly.

Getting up on Sasuke's bed, Sai swatted at the sleeping body.

"Get up, Sasuke! Get up!" The raven on the bed made no response, other than to shake Sai's arm off of him and bury himself underneath his pillow.

"Do you even know what time it is? Sasuke, it's fucking two in the afternoon! Now get the hell out of bed, you've got a concert to get ready for!" Sai began picking up garbage on the floor, tossing the empty beer bottles into the trashcan. He noticed an index card on Sasuke's desk. It said "Ino" on it and underneath, a phone number.

"Bitch." Sai declared loudly before ripping it up into shreds.

By this time, Sasuke had somewhat roused himself awake. He looked about as hung over as one could get. Sai sighed, taking in the raven's baggy eyes.

"Sasuke, we need to talk about this. Seriously, I can't believe you. If this got out to the press, you would be ruined. You have an appearance to keep up." Sai's voice had returned to its natural calming one.

Sasuke simply stared at him, mumbling a, "I don't give a shit" before making his way down the stairs.

Oh, Sai was mad now.

Following the raven, he sat on the couch and took a deep breath.

"Listen Sasuke. I know what it is. You're still having trouble sleeping, aren't you?" Sai continued, once he saw he wasn't going to get a response out of the other. "You know I'm here for you…but I really don't think you're handling this the right way." He let the words sink in.

"Anyways, we've got to get you ready for tonight. So go on, put on some clothes, and we'll go, ok?"

Making his way to the closest, the raven said nothing.

---

Naruto stood in front his mirror and let out a small huff. He had spent the last hour and a half trying to decide on a suitable, nice looking outfit to wear. It never took him that long to get dressed, but, for tonight, he wanted to look his best.

Finally deciding on a light blue sweater that brought out the color of his eyes and casual gray slacks, he sat down at his desk. There were only three things on it at the moment: the lavender bottle, a childhood picture of him and some of his elementary school classmates, and a Sharingan cd he had picked up recently.

Opening the cd, he pulled out the front cover and flipped through its pages, taking a glimpse at the song titles and lyrics. On the back page, he noticed, was where the personal information was. His eyes grew large and he let out a soft laugh at what he saw.

There, right above the word _Sharingan_, were the words _Uchiha Sasuke_.

---

Both Gaara and Naruto stepped close to the huge building where the concert was about to take place. The show was set soon and a huge mob, consisting of mostly females, was already at the door, wanting to get in.

Gaara pulled Naruto aside. "Uh, Naruto…this would probably be a good time to tell you that…I don't have a ticket."

Naruto's mouth dropped. "W-what?! I mean, I knew Neji and Lee didn't get tickets, but I thought you would've gotten one for yourself!" Gaara didn't exactly feel like elaborating as to why he was _supposed_ to have two tickets, but only ended up with one.

"Don't worry, come on let's just go."

"But, how're you suppose to get in without a ticket?" Naruto asked him. Gaara just shook his head.

"Look at all these people here. They won't notice if I just…slip in. Now come on, like I said, don't worry."

Naruto nodded hesitatingly and the two joined the mob.

A rather large man was checking the tickets. When it was Naruto and Gaara's turn, Naruto handed the man the ticket while Gaara tried to simply sneak in. However, the man pushed him back, asking for his ticket.

"You already checked my ticket." Gaara stated, trying to stay calm.

"No, I checked this guy's ticket right here," the man said, pointing to Naruto. "Now, where's yours?" Behind, the group was beginning to complain, yelling for them to speed it up.

"Look, that ticket over there cost me 4000 yen. That's more than double what it's worth. Now, let me go in." Gaara growled out, but then man refused.

"I'm sorry, but if you don't have a ticket, you can't come in." Gaara was about ready to kick the guy's ass, but he really didn't feel like causing a scene either.

"Take it." Naruto thrust his ticket into Gaara's hand. "You go see it. I'll wait here for you." With that said, he quickly walked out of line and further away from the building, while the redhead chased him.

"Naruto, stop." Gaara grabbed his wrist, hanging onto him.

"Why didn't you tell me that ticket cost you so much?" The blonde hissed at him, looking a bit upset. He didn't want Gaara to have spent so much money on him.

"I didn't want you to react like this," Gaara sighed. "Listen Naruto, just go. I'll wait for you out here." He cursed his luck because right after he said that, it began to rain.

Naruto's eyes darted toward the building. Everyone had gone in now and the doors were about to close. The man checking the tickets called out to him, asking if was going to come in or not. This could be his chance…

"Forget it. I'm not going." Naruto turned away defiantly and Gaara almost screamed in frustration. He knew it was a kind gesture that Naruto refused to go in without him, but all he wanted was for Naruto to be happy. Standing in the rain didn't particularly qualify as "happy."

Running his hand through his wet hair, he draped his jacket over the blonde, who had begun to shiver, and pulled it tightly around him.

Both stood in silence.

---

There was a lot of mayhem and commotion backstage, but Sasuke calmly sat on his chair, playing his guitar. He then set it down and mentally counted the seconds before Sai came bursting into his dressing room.

"Sasuke!"

_Ah. There we go._

"Tsk, tsk, Sasuke. You're on in ten minutes. I would've expected you to be preparing somehow, at the least." He poked at the raven's outfit, fingering the white, button-up shirt. "Is that what you're wearing onstage? Don't you think you could look a bit more…lively?" He made a note of Sasuke's black leather pants. "Black's always looked good on you, but how about we try something more feisty…like red."

Sasuke shot him a look that clearly said, "no way are you getting me into red leather."

Sai gave a half-pout and a shrug. He opened the door and made a hand movement to indicate it was his time to leave.

Sasuke got out of his chair, making his way to the stage. He could already hear the loud screams and cheers from his fans.

Show time.

---

Naruto tried to ignore the music blaring from the building. He knew he could've been in there, but there was no way he would've been willing to leave Gaara, alone in the rain, waiting for him.

It wasn't as bad now. Gaara had gone out to buy an umbrella so the two of them were a little less wet. Still, he hugged the jacket around him more.

"Naruto…" The blonde looked up to see Gaara's intense gaze upon him.

"Is this Sharingan guy really important to you? I mean, Neji told me he was the guy you were friends with since elementary school and that—" he took a breath, "he was the person you've been waiting for all these years."

Naruto didn't say anything, but that was all the answer the redhead needed.

Taking the blonde's hand, he wrapped it around the umbrella. Naruto looked at him, confused.

"Gaara, what—"

"I'm going to go see if there are any other doors you can go through. If this guy means that much to you, I'll help you get to him. Wait here, I'll be back." The two locked eyes for a moment before Gaara ran off. Naruto could see the rainwater, that hadn't let up, pounding upon the redhead's body.

"Gaara, wait!" But the rain drowned out his voice.

Naruto tightened his grip on the umbrella handle, awaiting Gaara's return.

---

**Eh, sorry for the short chapter. I had to put two of my fics on hold to finish this one up and Voulez Vous (which I've sort of been neglecting...ah if I could only get my lazy ass to write the damn chapter. Seriously, it's been in my head for ages). And, as I'm planning ahead, I doubt I'll be done anytime very soon…oh well.**

**Drop a review and I'll try to get the next chapter out soon.**


	4. First Encounter

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Just one thing this time, I'll be leaving for China on Aug. 7****th**** and by the time I get back, school's starting…wooo. I'm just letting you guys know beforehand so you'll know where I am and the reason for not updating!**

**Sorry for the wait, I was working on "Voulez Vous…" and got a little sidetracked.**

**Chapter 3: First Encounter**

**---**

Bottles of champagne were uncorked as loud cheers and shouts could be heard. There was a small commotion going on as glasses were filled and streamers flew down from the ceiling. Sai cleared his throat, indicating he was about to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I just wanted to thank you all for all of your help. The concert tonight was flawless," he turned to Sasuke, "and you were perfect."

An applause went around the room.

Sai reached down the table and grabbed two glasses of champagne, one for himself and one for Sasuke. "Thank you everyone again. And more success hopefully to come in the future."

Sasuke himself gave a curt nod of thanks before downing the whole thing.

Sai clapped him on the back. "Now, as I was saying—"

He didn't get to finish however, as Sasuke swiftly made his exit from the room. He stood there, motionless, a bit puzzled, but nonetheless, used to the Uchiha's ways. He turned back around to the rest of the employees in the room.

"Ah! More champagne for all!"

---

Gaara stood in the mob of screaming fangirls being restrained by the police, waiting outside the singer's dressing room, trying to ignore the pushes and shoves coming from all directions. It was awkward enough being the only guy in the bunch…

Just then, the door opened and out stepped Sharingan, accompanied by two bodyguards. The screams and yells of the girls around him seemed to skyrocket to a new level and he was surprised his eardrums hadn't broken yet. Sharingan took one look at the crowd and immediately stepped the other way, trying to find another exit.

Gaara let out a small grin. This was what he had finally been waiting for. Racing outside, he found Naruto there in the rain, still holding that umbrella.

"Naruto! I've found him!" The blonde's eyes widened and his lips formed a quiver of a smile.

"Really?"

"Follow me," Gaara answered, dragging the other along with him. Together they found a back door and entered through it. No one cared about letting them in now. After all, the concert was over.

Gaara pulled Naruto to the place where he had just been standing, yet there was no sign of Sharingan there anywhere. _Crap._ Now Gaara had no idea what to do.

"Ask him." Naruto pointed to a man walking by, going on about how Leo's fans had adored him tonight.

Gaara grabbed the arm of the guy. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin, almost like Sharingan himself.

"Hey, do you know where we can find Sharingan?"

"And who might you be?" The man asked, eyeing the grip Gaara had on his arm carefully.

"Look," the redhead explained slowly, "he just needs to speak with him." He tilted his head, indicating to Naruto.

"Ah, I see. Fans, hm?" Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but many people drop by every day hoping to see Sharingan. He's much too busy to spend his time seeing everyone and I don't see why it would be any different this time."

"And how would you know this?" Gaara all but growled.

"Because I'm his manager," the man stated, straightening up a bit. "You can call me Sai."

"Please, I just need a few minutes with him," Naruto broke in. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto and I was his elementary school classmate—"

Sai broke out in a laugh. "Elementary school classmate? Oh god, how many years has it been then? Really, cute story kid. But I don't believe a word."

"Hey," Gaara's grip tightened dangerously on Sai's arm. "Just let us see him. _Now_."

Sai's eyes narrowed. "Ibiki!"

A large man entered the room quickly. He had scars running all down his face and was built like a rock. He was obviously the head of security.

"Kindly escort these two to the exit," Sai announced coldly. Ibiki nodded, breaking Gaara's grip as he began ushering the two out.

"Wait," Naruto struggled against the bodyguard briefly. "Please, just give him this." He extended his arm to Sai and within his hand was a small bottle, with a single lavender flower inside. Tell him I'll be outside waiting for him."

"Yes, yes very well." Sai took the bottle hesitatingly. He waited until the pair along with Ibiki were a good couple of yards away before he eyed the bottle distastefully. He was pretty sure he had seen the thing before…but ah, no matter. Without even a second glance, he tossed it in the nearby trash bin.

As Sasuke came to find Sai, he spotted Ibiki escorting two people out. They were too far down the hall for him to see clearly who it was, but all he could tell was that the redheaded one was swearing quite loudly.

"Who were they?" Sasuke asked in a somewhat uncaring manner.

"Who? Oh them? Mm, no one important." Sai answered.

---

Outside, Gaara pulled Naruto close, while holding the umbrella with his free hand.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly, having calmed down a bit from a few minutes ago.

"I'm fine," the blonde answered. He clung to Gaara a bit tighter, trying to find some more warmth.

"So…are you sure he'll come?" Naruto looked up at him.

"As long as he sees that bottle…he'll come."

Gaara nodded. "Then, we'll wait."

The rain pounded harder and harder.

---

On the way back from the concert, Sai was rambling on one of his speeches while Sasuke had just pulled his headphones on. He began to rustle through his bag, wanting to finish the score he had started in the morning.

Panic began to seize him however when he couldn't find it anywhere. He turned his whole bag upside down, his hands and eyes searching frantically.

"Shit."

"What's up with you?" Sai asked, noticing the Uchiha's sudden frenzy.

"My music—I can't find the score I wrote." Sasuke's voice was relatively calm, but there was a definite underlining of not-so-calm underneath.

"Don't worry about it. Scores are scores. You can always just write another one and then there won't be a pro—"

"It has to be back at the concert hall. I'm going back."

"Aw don't be like that Sasuke. It's late, no one will be around and—"

"If you won't come, I'll go by myself." He hissed out. "Stop the car."

When the drive paid no attention to him, he said it in a louder and more irritable voice. "Stop this fucking car right _now_."

"Alright, alright," Sai warned him to stay calm. "We'll turn around. Let's go…"

When they reached the building again, Sasuke flew inside, checking all the rooms, looking through every nook and cranny. He could still not find his music anywhere.

"See what I mean? Some janitor probably swept it up or something." Sai drawled out.

Sasuke noticed that all the trash cans were empty and immediately flew to one of the halls where all the trash was collected. Fumbling through the discarded cardboard boxes and bags, he looked through them all desperately.

"Get your hands out of the trash, Sasuke. That is disgusting." Sai noted, walking up behind him, dodging a box that Sasuke had just threw aside.

Sasuke ignored him and pulled a new box from the pile, hoping to find his score.

His eyes widened. Carefully, he reached inside the box and extracted a small bottle. It was a bottle he would recognize anywhere. It was a bottle he, himself, had given to a certain someone…

"Sai, where did this come from?" The Uchiha asked quietly, but with a hint of an edge to his voice.

Sai peered at the bottle. "Oh, just some fan of yours. Said their name was Uzumaki Naruto. Wouldn't leave until you saw him. The usual—" He didn't even get to finish before Sasuke sprinted off.

The raven opened the doors to the huge building, a new feeling bubbling in the pit of his stomach. Could it really be?

However, nothing greeted him except rain and the sight of a discarded umbrella.

---

"Hello?"

"Ah, are you the head of the flower company."

"Yes, this is Gaara speaking, how may I help you?"

"I'd like to book an event for tomorrow."

"What kind of event would this be? And for whom?"

"Oh, a public appearance of sorts. And this would be for the famous Sharingan. I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sai and I'm his manager."

Gaara was about to tell the guy to go to hell, remembering their last encounter. But then he thought about it. Public appearance. Naruto might finally have his chance to see him…

_For Naruto's sake._

"Alright."

---

"Listen up everyone," Gaara waited until he had the focus of Naruto, Neji, and Lee. "I just got off the phone with a very important person. Tomorrow we're having a big event here."

"What kind of event?" asked Neji, peeling off his gloves.

"Tomorrow…Sharingan will be making a public appearance here."

There was a deft silence. And then…

"OH MY GOD!" Lee began to jump up and down while he punched the air repeatedly. "Sharingan is going to be within my presence tomorrow. My life is complete."

Gaara turned to see Naruto's reaction, the one he needed to see most. The blonde simply looked away.

"Hey Naruto," he whispered quietly, "the only reason I really agreed to this was to make up for that concert when you didn't get to see him."

Naruto simply sighed before walking away.

---

Sasuke sat in his room, strumming chords on his guitar, when his phone began to ring. His initial thought was to ignore it, and he did pretty well, until it wouldn't stop radiating unwanted noise.

Sighing deeply, annoyed at the fact he had had to stop, he picked up the phone, half wanting to chuck it against the wall.

"Hello?"

"Sasuke, it's Sai. I've found that guy's address for you."

The raven's eyes widened.

"Ok. I'll be there soon."

---

Naruto got off of Gaara's bike and removed his helmet. The redhead had offered him a ride home and he had taken it. Gaara removed his own helmet and rested on the motorcycle.

"Not bad eh? Got a world famous pop star as a lover." Gaara teased lightly.

"Shut up. That's not true. He's just…a schoolmate. That's all."

"Oh I'm sure he's _just_ a schoolmate. Hmm, I'm sure you mean _more_ than just a schoolmate, ne?"

"Don't assume things," Naruto punched him lightly, still with the solemn expression he had been wearing all morning.

"Hey," Gaara tilted his chin up, "why don't you smile a bit? You're thinking this too much Naruto. I was only joking. Don't let it affect you too much, ok?" He finished softly. "But I mean, it'd be kind of cool to be Sharingan's boyfriend, huh?"

"I guess," Naruto paused thoughtfully as a small smile then crept on his face. "Man, that would be the life of luxury. I'd have big houses and fancy cars. I'd have a limitless credit card and maids and servants to my beck and call."

"Now, now, don't get ahead of yourself there," Gaara laughed lightly. "You really expect a lot don't you? Sheesh, hard to satisfy…"

Just then, a sports car came whizzing by them. Gaara let out a low whistle when he caught the brand.

"That is one _very_ nice car."

Neither one had noticed that that car had just pulled up in the driveway during the middle of their chat. Neither one had noticed that it had left just as quickly. Most importantly, neither one had noticed who was behind the wheel.

---

Sasuke pulled away fast in his car. He had heard all that he needed to hear. Was that all Naruto really cared about? The fame? The fortune? It had been too dark to see anything, but he had heard it all. He shook that thought out of his mind. He didn't want to deal with this. Not now.

Pulling back into his apartment, he immediately went inside, dropped his keys, and fell to the bed, feeling exhaustion wave through his body. At the moment, there was nothing more he wanted to do than sleep.

He closed his eyes…

_A woman was being thrown down on the stairs._

His left hand twitched slightly.

_She was trying, desperately, to crawl away._

He turned his head to the side.

_A man was walking up to her, gun in hand_.

He let out a small groan.

_The gun flashed, more vividly._

He began to pant.

_The man raised the gun to the woman's head._

He was tossing and turning again.

_The man raised the gun to his own head._

Every inch of his body was having a spasm now.

_Twelve-year-old Sasuke looked on in horror_.

Sweat was poring over his body.

_Shots rang out_.

Dark eyes snapped open and the raven sprang out of bed, panting heavily and shaking. He tried to get a hold of himself. He ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair.

It was always the same dream.

Heading downstairs, he pried open the fridge and took out a beer. He took a few gulps and let the numbing effect begin to sink through him.

His phone began to ring.

Slowly, he picked it up and answered it, waiting a good few moments before asking 'hello.'

"Sasuke? Why are you answering the phone at this hour? I was planning on leaving a message for you."

The raven recognized Sai's voice immediately, but said nothing.

"Why are you still awake?"

Silence.

"Oh…you were thinking about it again, weren't you? It's been so many years Sasuke, don't you think it's about time you moved on?"

Silence.

"Well, since you're awake, I might stop by and check on you later."

Sasuke said nothing, clicking the phone off and putting it back on the table.

---

The pavilion where the event was about to take place was set up beautifully. Sasuke was already there, answering questions from various different reporters. Sai was directing all the fans to wait in line for a turn to see Sharingan, while Neji, Lee, and Gaara were putting finishing touches on everything.

"There sure are a lot of people…" Neji commented, while placing the glasses down.

"Why isn't Naruto here yet? We need his help!" Lee exclaimed while clumsily knocking over nearly half the glasses Neji had placed on the table.

"Careful, careful!" Gaara scolded lightly. He glanced at his watch. "You two take over for a while, I'll be right back." He made his way toward the entrance, hoping to see some sign of Naruto…

"Hey!"

Gaara sighed with relief as he saw the blonde making his way toward him, wide smile plastered straight on his face.

"Sorry, I know I'm a little late," he grinned sheepishly.

"It's alright, just get in there." Gaara shooed him inside rapidly. With that, he shoved a tray of drinks in his hand. "Just get those out there."

Naruto nodded and took the heavy tray, making his way through the throng of girls anxiously awaiting to see Sharingan. He walked a little further and his breath hitched.

There he was, surrounded by reporters, no less, but he was still there. Naruto felt a glow begin to rise on his cheeks and he immediately turned away from the scene, not wanting to be spotted, and not so sure he was ready to face him, but not before being stopped by Sai.

"Hey you. The reason you brought the drinks out was to _serve_ them, am I correct?" He turned his back to count the number he would need, and Naruto took that opportunity to try to squeeze away from him, walking away quickly.

But Sai turned around and chased after him, tugging on the blonde's arm to go back. Naruto wasn't even really sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew, Sai was covered in drinks and there was not a single one left on the tray.

Naruto cringed, waiting for a long and angry tirade.

Sai was audibly swearing underneath his breath. There was a glint to his eye and he was anything but pleased.

"Do you _know_ how much this suit costs?"

Naruto shook his head slightly.

"You have to be the crappiest server I've ever met. How _dare_ you spill drinks all over me."

"It was an accident," Naruto let out meekly.

"Yeah, well that accident of yours just ruined a $7000 suit!" By this time, all the talking had stopped and the fans were all staring at them. Even the reporters had stopped asking questions and Sasuke was staring at them curiously. Naruto felt himself flush hotly.

"I said sorry already. I didn't do it on purpose!"

Sai let out a snort and ripped off his nametag. "What the hell is your name anyways? You should be fired." He peered at the tag. "Uzumaki Naruto?" Well—"

From where he stood, Sasuke froze.

_U-Uzumaki Naruto?_

He made his way to this manager and took in the other's appearance. Sunny blonde hair and bright blue eyes, with whiskers on his cheeks, the boy looked like an angel.

"Uzumaki…Naruto…"

The blonde looked up to see himself staring into the dark eyes of none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

The tension was thick in the air.

No one seemed to breathe or move.

The Uchiha was even more handsome than Naruto remembered. He desperately wanted to find his voice, be able to say anything at all.

Finally, the raven broke the silence.

"So. I heard you wanted to see me. Well…now that you have, that's that huh?"

Naruto didn't like his tone. There was…coldness to it.

"Uchiha Sasuke…" The voice was small, barely heard.

"Do you still remember…your promise?"

Sasuke turned to look at him for a good amount of time before he finally let out a chuckle. "_Promise_? You didn't think that was real, did you? I mean you're just another guy. But I suppose being around me has its perks huh? The houses, the cars…hey, you might even be able to get a hand on my credit card."

Naruto felt all ray of hope vanish within him as he heard those heart-wrenching words. He had never thought meeting Sasuke would be like this. What happened to the friend he once knew?

He did the only thing he could think of.

Sasuke inhaled deeply as he felt a cold spray of champagne drench him. He blinked open his eyes to see none other than Naruto glaring at him, empty glass in hand, before the blonde took off. Sasuke could hear the camera shutters going off again and he let out a quiet sigh.

One of the reporters called out to him. "Sharingan, Sharingan! Are you really in a relationship with him?"

Sasuke licked his lips, tasting the drink he had all over him. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Didn't you all see that? We're not in a relationship, he obviously hates me." With that, more questions were fired his way, but he couldn't focus on anything. Not when Naruto's hurt face was the only thing stuck in his mind.

---

**Ok, so Sasuke's kinda an asshole at the moment. But that's all going to change soon. Both him and Naruto have some issues to figure out and they both kinda misunderstood each other.**

**Review please! (and I'll try to update again before I leave!)**


	5. I'm Sorry

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**God…it's been a while huh? XD**

**Sorry everyone, it's just that after China, I had school right after and then…yeah. School really sucks, the workload is killing me. So…I bring you guys an update! (sorry for the wait!)**

**I thought about updating this or Voulez Vous and then I decided on this one. Voulez Vous' still gonna take a while, so bear with me guys!**

**Chapter 5: I'm Sorry**

**---**

"There he is!"

Gaara resisted the urge to unleash his wrath and kill someone as he was swarmed by a mob of reporters, all thrusting microphones in his face and bombarding him with questions.

"Where is Uzumaki Naruto?"

"You're his boss, correct?"

"What's his relationship with—"

Gaara let out a low growl. This was _really_ starting to piss him off.

"I'm letting you all know, I know nothing at all. And I'd appreciate it if you don't shower Naruto with all these questions. He still has to work and it's not respectful to him." Gaara prayed the reporters got any of that.

"But—"

"Sharingan—"

Gaara's eyes flashed in anger. His fists were clenched tightly and he was having a little trouble controlling his breathing. He took a deep breath.

"Everyone, listen closely. If you don't leave within the next ten seconds, I will personally massacre you all. Fuck off NOW." Gaara didn't have to raise his voice at all. If he were _really, really_ mad, he'd be the "silent, deadly" type. The reporters seemed to catch his drift anyways, as they all dispersed quickly.

Gaara rubbed his temples, getting a sense of a migraine coming on. Shaking his head, he made his way to the greenhouse, spotting Neji and Lee.

"Where's Naruto?" Gaara asked, his voice laced with worry.

"It's ok. We managed to sneak him out the back door." The redhead let out a sigh of relief.

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy?! To do that to Naruto…what an asshole!" Lee punched his fist in the air. "I can't believe I ever liked a guy like that!"

Gaara stared out the window, hoping the blonde had made it home ok.

---

Naruto closed the door to his house quietly, feeling incredibly tired. Then, seeing his father sitting on the couch with a stony expression on his face, he blanched. He knew Iruka would not be in a good mood. Slowly, he shuffled his way over to the couch.

"…Dad?" Naruto bit out, hesitantly. There was a moment's pause before Iruka rose, collecting a magazine on the table before speaking.

"Let me ask you something. What is this?! Are you dating this Sharingan guy?" The brunette's voice was clipped and hard.

"Dad, that's just some stupid magazine. He's not my boyfriend and I'm not seeing—"

"Don't you think _this_ is a little extreme for some rumor?! There's even a _picture_ here, Naruto!" The blonde looked down at the article to see what had happened the day before: him splashing Sharingan with the champagne.

"Do you _think_ that's ok for you to do?!" Iruka nearly screeched, pacing around the room frantically.

"Dad, at the time…I don't know, my instinct took over! I—"

"I've told you ever since you were little not to get involved in things like this! Don't you realize there will be consequences? I've tried to protect you and warn you, but I see that it didn't work."

"Naruto…" Iruka's voice softened. "Love can really hurt a person. You're still young…you wouldn't understand. But, love can bring great happiness, but also great pain, especially with your condition. I…I just don't want to see you get hurt." Naruto made his way to his father and put his arms around him tightly.

"I know dad…I know."

---

"Can you believe she even thought of doing something like that? Who does she think she is? I—"

"Sai," Sasuke's voice sounded oddly tired, "let's just drop it, ok?"

Sai jaw dropped for a moment before he picked it back up again. "No, we can't drop it. This isn't a 'we-can-drop-it' matter. He should be punished for what he did."

Sasuke let out a sigh, wanting desperately to just leave the company building and go home. "He was my elementary school friend. I say forget it…so we're going to forget it." With that said, he walked away, leaving a very disgruntled Sai.

Back at his house, Sasuke twirled the lavender bottle between his fingers, thinking about the previous day's events. He couldn't help but let out a small smile as he remembered being splashed with the cold champagne.

_Who would've thought…his temper compared to when he was younger is so different…_

That was the last thought he could remember thinking before drifting to sleep.

---

Naruto was having a bad day. He had woken up late and when he had gotten ready to go to work, he had stepped outside to see the front wheel of his bicycle all bent up. He had no idea who had done such a thing, but it couldn't help but give him a chill that reminded him of when he used to get bullied in elementary school. He supposed it had been one of Sharingan's obsessive fangirls. That magazine article had seriously been more trouble than he had thought.

And now he was sitting on the steps of the greenhouse, trying to fix the damn wheel. Gaara, who had been eyeing the blonde's frustrated looks all morning, walked over to him. He glanced at the bike's wheel and his eyes narrowed.

"Naruto…did someone do that to you? Because if they did I swear to god I'll—"

"No! I…I was just being clumsy and I messed it up myself." He could never seem to break the habit of just admitting it was someone else who did it.

If Gaara didn't believe him, he said nothing, simply taking another look at the wheel. "Give it up, Naruto. The metal's crooked. The thing's totally busted. I don't think you'll be able to ride it again." If anything, the blonde's hands seemed to work harder to try and fix the wheel.

"How about I just give you a ride to and from work, hm?" Gaara offered again.

Naruto shook his head. "I told you…I like riding my bike. But thank you for the offer."

Gaara sighed. "Did Sharingan teach you to like riding bikes?" He kind of wished he could take back what he said after he saw Naruto's jaw tick. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring it up…but Gaara couldn't understand why Naruto wouldn't just take him up on his offers.

Naruto thought about his answer before responding. "No. Sasuke taught me to like riding bikes, not Sharingan."

Gaara grabbed the wheel out of Naruto's hands, inspecting how bad the damage was before pushing and pulling on various parts. "I'll help you. Hand me the wrench."

The blonde stared at the redhead who was fixing his bike. He truly did have handsome features. Gaara, feeling eyes upon him, looked up.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Oh…no reason." Naruto grinned goofily.

Gaara let out a small smile. "Stupid."

---

"Guys, where are we going?" Naruto was currently blindfolded; led somewhere he had no clue about, by Gaara, Neji, and Lee.

"Just a second, we're almost there…ok, take off the blindfold!"

Naruto removed the piece of cloth around his eyes and took in the sight of what was around him. They were in front of a huge oak tree, with balloons fluttering all around. In front was a picnic table decorated with flowers, along with bottles of champagne and a huge cake.

"Happy twentieth birthday, Naruto!"

The blonde felt shocked. They had planned all of this for him? He certainly felt lucky indeed.

"Thank you," he looked happily around, "thank you all."

"Let's do presents first!" Lee exclaimed, reaching for his package first. It was a bulky parcel and Naruto opened it to see a bright orange sweatshirt. He thanked Lee, especially for remembering his favorite color. Neji's was next and he pushed the paper aside to see a bottle of cologne. Naruto thanked him wholeheartedly as well, then finally moved on to Gaara's gift. He opened the box to find a brand new cell phone. He let out a small gasp. He had never had a cell phone before. He took it out and examined it. It was square shaped, flat, and white, with red on the edges. It was perfect.

"Thank you Gaara," he whispered softly. Gaara nodded with a smile.

Neji handed him the knife to cut the cake. "You have to make three wishes first, though," the brunette warned him.

Naruto thought about it. "My first wish is for all my friends and family to be happy and healthy." Typical Naruto wish.

"My second wish is for this greenhouse to be around forever."

"And…my third wish…"

'_I'll be back. In ten years, on my twentieth birthday, I'll come back. And I'll find you. I promise.'_

Naruto frowned a bit. _A twentieth birthday is supposed to be a big deal. And yet…why is it I don't feel that happy?_

Leaning forward, he blew out the candles.

---

Sai blinked.

Then, blinked again.

The boy in front of him looked terrified, as if he was going to bolt any second now.

"So. Let me get this straight. You're trying to tell me that your boss isn't here yet, but your expect our Sharingan to wait for him?"

"W-well, my b-boss said he's on the w-way now and he m-might be a l-little late." The boy squeaked out.

"Ah. And is your boss as famous as our Sharingan?"

The boy shook his head frantically.

Sai grabbed the back of the boy's collar and pulled it tight. His voice turned cold. "Well you can go and phone your boss and tell him that if he comes late, he shouldn't come at all." His voice turned back to its normal monotone. "Now go."

The boy rushed away, but not before shoving a newspaper in Sai's hands and mumbling something about "please read something while you wait."

Sai shook his head before making his way back to Sasuke in his dressing room. "The guy is going to be a little late, Sasuke. Just read this while you wait," he said, dropping the paper on the dressing room table and stalking off.

Sasuke looked at the paper uninterested, until he saw his name on one of the articles. He picked it up and skimmed through it. A sentence then caught his eye.

_Today is Uzumaki Naruto's twentieth birthday…_

Sasuke thought back to the promise he had made ten years earlier.

'_I'll be back. In ten years, on my twentieth birthday, I'll come back. And I'll find you. I promise.'_

The raven drummed his fingers on the table, contemplating to himself.

---

"Well, what do you guys want to do now?" Gaara asked Naruto, Neji, and Lee. The four were walking down the street, keeping Naruto company on his birthday.

"I know! Let's go get some tea!" Lee exclaimed.

"Lee," Neji looked deadpanned, "you cannot be serious. You _just_ ate half a cake."

"So?" Lee huffed. "As long as Gaara's paying the whole day, why not eat as much as I can?"

"Watch it," Gaara half-joked.

The four passed by an electronics store where a television was currently playing a news channel. Neji squinted at it.

"Hey, isn't that—"

"It's Sharingan!" Lee cut him off. Both Naruto and Gaara turned to look at the screen.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen, I'm here with the legendary singer and song writer, Sharingan! Tell us, what do you think of your stay in Tokyo so far?"

"I'm very pleased with my stay. I really enjoy it here. It's a nice change of surrounding from the states," came the smooth response.

"Let's go," Gaara stated gruffly, not really interested at all in what was going on.

"Wait, just hold on a second." Lee had apparently forgotten that Sharingan was an "asshole."

"—So apart from music and writing, there are many rumors out there surrounding your love life. Is it true you now have a love interest, right here, in Tokyo?"

"Hmm…how should I say this... no, there is nothing serious going on right now. The guy you have all read about in the papers, he's just an elementary school friend, nothing more.

"Naruto, he's talking about you!" Lee whispered excitedly.

"—Is there anything you would like to say to him, in case he's watching right now?" There was a moment's pause as Naruto waited patiently.

"I want him to know that…I'm sorry. I regret what happened the other day...I was a jerk." Obsidian eyes locked with the camera and Naruto couldn't help but feel as though they were staring right at each other. "…That event seemed to have caused more trouble than I presumed. And also…happy birthday."

Naruto couldn't help but feel something warm his insides with those words.

"Oh! So it's his birthday today! Did you send him a present?"

"No, no." Sasuke said with a light chuckle. Then, he smiled. "But…I do wonder whether or not he remembers our promise."

Gaara bit his lip as he noticed Naruto couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the screen.

---

The interview had just ended and Sasuke was following Sai out of the building. Sai noticed the raven seemed to have his thoughts somewhere else. He waved his hand in front of his face.

"Oiy, Sasuke. You in there? We have to get you to another appoint—"

"Sorry," Sasuke cut in. "But I have some stuff I need to take care of. I'm going to have to take a rain check."

"What?" Sai questioned flatly.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke repeated, before jamming his thumb on the elevator button. He tapped his foot frantically on the floor, praying the doors would open.

"Sasuke, you can't do this! You have—"

"Just take care of it for me, ok?" With that, Sasuke's patience seemed to reach its limit and he raced down the corridor, opting for the stairs instead.

Sai stood there with his hands on his hips. Then, his mind seemed to backtrack.

_He…he said 'sorry' to me. Not once…but twice._ Sai seemed shocked at the revelation.

"Hey…Sasuke!"

But he was already gone.

---

"Smile!"

Flashes of light hit Gaara's eyes and he was getting more and more agitated by the second. He was stuck in one of those little, cramped photo booths with Neji and Lee who had insisted on wanting to take pictures.

When they were finished and Lee had got them developed, they looked at them. Neji and Lee had looked good during the shooting, but Gaara hadn't smiled in a single one.

Neji noticed the change in Gaara's personality. He bit his lip. "You agreed to take pictures with us…you could've been a bit more lively."

"Maybe I'm not in the mood anymore," Gaara let out, a bit more cold than he had intended.

_Not in the mood now that Naruto's not here,_ Neji wanted to say, but held it back. He couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed himself. They had all agreed to spend Naruto's birthday together, yet after seeing Sharingan's interview, Naruto had left, saying he was terribly sorry but he had something he needed to attend to.

Now, as Neji looked at Gaara's face, he saw that all happiness seemed to be drained from it. He clenched his fists and couldn't help but feel a little hurt.

_It's always…about Naruto._

---

Sasuke drove his car down the street recklessly, going way beyond the speed limit. There was somewhere he needed to be and he needed to get there fast.

Meanwhile, Naruto sat on the steps of their old elementary school. He sat and he waited. Visiting this place always brought back old memories. He remembered the time Sasuke had been punished because he had gotten in a fight with another one of the students. It was weird because Sasuke rarely got punished. He was usually a good kid. Then, he remembered the root of that fight.

"_Uchiha Sasuke likes Uzumaki Naruto!"_

Sasuke walked through the corridors of the school, looking into past classrooms. He stopped when he saw the nurse's office and remembered one of the only times he had ever been in there.

"_Why're you crying? It's not like you got hurt…"_

"_I know. But this is my fault. I'm the reason you got hurt."_

Sasuke smiled a little before moving on. This time, he peered through the window of one of his classrooms. It looked pretty much the same. Then, something on the board caught his eye. There, in somewhat messy handwriting, spelled out, 'Uchiha Sasuke' and right next to that, 'Uzumaki Naruto.'

The raven looked around him, quickening his steps down the corridors, before breaking out into a full-on run.

He made his way outside, still running, trying to reach the place in his mind. He was nearly there…

He halted.

There was Naruto, crouched in front of a pile of lavender flowers sprouting out of the grass. Quietly, Sasuke made his way toward him, until he had gotten about two feet away. He saw the blonde, hearing the sound that the raven's feet had made while walking on the ground, raise his head, aware of the other's presence.

Blue eyes met black as time seemed to stop.

---

**Bad place to end huh? Sorry about the cliffhanger!**

**Oh, and just to inform you guys, it might seem that these transitions are kind of sloppy and choppy, but that's how I wanted it to work and that's kind of how I pictured them to be while writing them.**

**Review, review, review!**


	6. Mixed Feelings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Hope you guys haven't forgotten the whole plot of this story! It's been some time…**

**Chapter 6: Mixed Feelings**

**---**

Naruto had grown.

Ten years had changed quite a lot. Sasuke observed the boy with calm eyes. The chubby cheeks had disappeared and the whisker-like markings on each of his cheeks had become a bit more pronounced. He was tall, though not quite as tall as himself, and his body had just enough muscle. The only things that hadn't changed about him were the unruly, bright blonde hair and his piercing blue eyes.

He shifted a bit, awkwardly.

"So…" Naruto began, "how have you been?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Good."

Naruto couldn't help but let out a small smile. It appeared ten years had done nothing really to Sasuke's social skills.

"Ah, well, how have your parents been?" He continued.

Sasuke thrust his hands into his pockets. "They're dead."

Naruto's eyes widened and he bit his lip. Sasuke's tone had been even, but Naruto could just tell that it was a very sensitive topic, as it should have been.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know-"

"It's ok," Sasuke interrupted smoothly, signifying to the blonde that the topic had been closed for discussion. "What about you?"

Naruto's smile brightened a bit. "I've been working at the greenhouse for a while now. It can get a little tedious and boring sometimes, but it's something I love to do and I wouldn't trade it for anything. And Iruka's been good too! He recently got transferred to a new department and—" he suddenly bit his lip.

"I'm sorry," grinning rather sheepishly, "you probably think I talk way too much, huh?"

Sasuke allowed the corners of his mouth to tilt upwards just the slightest bit.

"But let's go back to you then. I'm sure your life is pretty amazing right now. I never dreamed you would become a famous singer one day." Naruto's eyes lit up with wonder and Sasuke felt something ignite within him, even if it was just a little spark.

"Yeah, I never would've thought it either," he responded. There was a slight pause before he continued. "I remember your body wasn't doing too well when we were younger. Have you improved?"

Maybe it was simply Sasuke's imagination that Naruto's eyes dulled the _slightest_ bit.

"It's been the same. I mean I've gotten a little better I guess. I've been taking it pretty easy." And with that, he smiled warmly.

Sasuke nodded. "I'm sure your boyfriend will be able to take care of you."

Naruto's eyes turned towards a look of confusion. "Boyfriend? What are you talking about…I don't have a boyfriend."

"I saw you once," Sasuke replied, frowning, "with a guy. You two looked pretty close. The redhead." At that, the blonde let out a mild chuckle of amusement.

"Gaara? He works with me in the greenhouse. You could say he's like my boss kind of. We're close as friends, but it's nothing more than that." Naruto cocked his head to side.

"Oh…I'm sorry to have assumed then." There was a bit of an awkward feeling in the air around the two of them.

"So," Naruto let out, breaking the slightly uncomfortable silence, "what about you?"

Sasuke said nothing at first, almost as if he was debating about something in his head. Finally, he let out a small sigh.

"There is someone. She's back in America."

With those words, Naruto felt his insides begin to crumble. He clenched his fists together and shifted his eyes downwards. It wasn't as though he had really expected Sasuke to be single, being the gorgeous star that he was. And ten years really was a long time…but still, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment.

"Oh…" The blonde tried to keep his voice normal sounding. "I bet…I bet she's really pretty."

Sasuke's eyes had a far-off look to them. "In America…some unfortunate things happened. And she was the one who stuck by me the whole time and got me through it."

_I could have been there for you…but you had to leave._

A slight tension began to crowd the atmosphere. Sasuke looked over at the blonde who was refusing to make eye contact with him. When the girlfriend issue had been brought up, it seemed that Naruto's energy level seemed to have plummeted. _But…no. It couldn't have been about that…could it?_

"Well, let's go. I'll take you home." Naruto's eyes darted up as though he had forgotten Sasuke was even there. He nodded his head.

"Wait. Before we go, give me your cell phone."

Naruto reached for his phone inside of his pocket and handed it to him. He watched as Sasuke began typing in numbers and then finally, his name. He handed it back to him.

"This is my cell phone number. We're only old classmates, Naruto. I don't want to get you involved with the press. If they bother you again, give me a call and I'll help you fix the problem." He began to walk away. Naruto stared at the back of the figure leaving. He clenched his hand tightly around his phone.

_We're only old classmates_.

He couldn't help the pain he felt in his heart upon hearing those words.

---

Gaara straightened out a flowerpot along the row of the windowsill. It was then that he actually looked outside the window to see a single man standing near one of the large oak trees. In his hand was a camera.

_Damn fucking paparazzi…don't get the fucking point…_Gaara's mind let out a whole string of curses before he went outside the greet the man. He decided that he would get him to leave, once and for all, whether that involved strangling him to death hanging him from a tree branch.

When the man saw the redhead come towards him, he let out a yell before running to meet him. "Oiy!"

"What the hell do you want?" Gaara asked, rather coldly. The man grinned before slinging an arm around his shoulder.

"Don't. Touch. Me." Gaara bit out, and the man quickly retracted his arm.

"Well, I was just wondering if you'd be ever so kind enough to answer just a _few_ questions. I mean, yesterday was Naruto's birthday right? And then Sharingan goes on live and wishes him 'happy birthday'…do you know where they want afterwards? There were rumored reports that they were seen together!"

The man let out a whimper as Gaara's arm lashed out and grabbed his collar. "You don't know what you're fucking talking about," he all but snarled.

"Hey, hey! Take it easy man! Don't get so riled up—"

"Gaara!" Both men turned to see Naruto walking towards them, completely oblivious to who the man was that Gaara was about to pummel.

"So the figures from this month were a little off and I was just wondering—" Before he could finish, Gaara had grabbed him from the shoulders and was leading him off in the opposite direction. The man behind rushed after them.

"Wait! Uzumaki Naruto! Did you spend your birthday yesterday with Sharingan? Are you two together—"

It was then the blonde realized who the man was and, thinking back to the other day and the man's question, he felt something inside him snap.

"No! I wasn't with him yesterday!" Naruto responded hotly, the words leaving his mouth before he could even think about them.

"But people said they spotted the two of you together!"

Naruto shook his head, almost violently. "That wasn't me! I-it must've been someone else."

The reporter let out an exasperated sigh. He could clearly tell that the blonde was lying, but it didn't seem like there was anything he could do to make him change his mind about giving away any information. And from the looks of it, he was going to have even worse luck trying to convince the redhead.

"Alright, I just _need_ to know if you two are together or not—"

"Stop asking questions! We're not together, ok?! He…he has a girlfriend! We-we're only elementary school friends. Please…don't come back here again." The rage that had once consumed him now seemed to diminish and he could feel nothing except weariness.

The man left without another word, clearly becoming disinterested after hearing that Naruto had no real affiliation with Sharingan. Gaara watched him go with a scowl. Turning around, he saw the blonde standing there, kicking at a rock on the ground, a rather sad expression on his face.

"Naruto…"

---

Sasuke sat with his guitar in hand and pencil in his mouth, music sheets spread all over his desk. The news was on in the background, but he hadn't been paying it much attention until he heard something that immediately made him focus.

"—And it has been said that Hatake Kakashi, world's best record producer, has stopped in Tokyo for the next few months, in order to witness a traditional music festival and see if he can find some new talent. It is said that—"

Sasuke threw everything down, grabbed his phone, and dialed Sai's number.

"Meet me at the company in twenty minutes."

Once the two of them had gotten there and settled themselves in, Sasuke began.

"Did you know that Hatake Kakashi was in town?"

"Ah," Sai smiled brightly. "Yes, I was about to inform you in case you missed it."

"I want to meet with him," Sasuke expressed, deadpanned.

"Hmm…that could be hard to do. Hardly anyone gets to see him now, you know? He's that exclusive."

"Sai—"

"Tomorrow. 9 o'clock. I've already booked it."

If he hadn't been taught to maintain his composure at all times, the Uchiha's jaw would have most definitely dropped.

"Don't be late!" Sai let out with a cheery wave before walking out of the room.

Sasuke sat in a stunned silence.

Sai had almost _really_ messed with him.

Sasuke fought extremely hard to suppress the urge to laugh.

---

It was 9:52.

What the _fuck_?

Sasuke sat in the chair, irritated beyond belief. He had been here for almost a whole hour waiting for Kakashi, and the man was nowhere to be seen. He could feel his insides beginning to eat away at his final strand of patience.

Sai sat next to him, gingerly glancing at the clock on the wall every so often and then back to Sasuke. He tapped his fingers lightly.

"Maybe…I'll just go see if he's coming…"

Sai approached the door, but before he could open it, it was opened from the other end and both Sasuke and Sai turned to see, none other than, the legendary Hatake Kakashi.

The man was very tall and slim with pointy, white-gray hair that seemed to defy gravity and bangs that covered his right eye. The bottom half of his face was covered with a mask, his trademark. His suit was pressed clean and overall, he looked very cool, calm, and collected, with a strong presence.

Settling himself down a chair, he glanced over the Uchiha for about a full two seconds before turning away, uninterested.

A shot of annoyance rang through Sasuke.

"Mr. Hatake, thank you so much for taking the time to see us," Sai began. "I know your schedule is very full and we appreciate it so very much that—"

"You have five minutes."

Sai seemed to have blanched a little. "F-five minutes? Well, five minutes is alright. It's more than enough time to listen to some good music." With that, he produced a cd. Placing it upon the cd player, he waited for the song to load.

A classical song began to play, one with strings and the piano and a light melody. It seemed to bring an air of calm throughout the whole room.

Kakashi drummed his fingers on his desk. "So…you're Sharingan?"

Sasuke nodded.

"This song was one that Sasuke wrote himself," Sai admitted proudly. "And this song is only a sample, his music taste is very diverse and he can…" He stopped once he realized he was more than likely ruining the mood, being the only one that was talking.

The song continued to play.

Kakashi stared at Sasuke.

Sasuke stared right back.

The older man sighed. Without another word, he pushed himself out of his chair and began to leave.

"Wait!" Sai pushed himself out of his chair. "There are other songs on the cd that you could listen to! The ones after that…"

Sasuke tuned him out as he bolted out the door and after Kakashi. He caught the man just as the he was approaching the elevators.

"What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Sasuke let out, barely able to keep his voice level.

Kakashi only continued to stare at him, his dark eyes piercing into Sasuke's own. The raven took a step toward him.

"Is my music not good?" He questioned coldly.

It was Kakashi's turn to take a step toward him.

"That kind of music," he stated in the calm, bored manner he had been talking in all night, "is not even worth my time." And with that, he turned around and pressed the elevator button.

Sasuke felt as though he had been punched in the gut. _How dare he!_

"And why not?!" He was beginning to lose his temper real fast.

Kakashi gave him a critical look before responding. "Have you ever experienced true love?"

Sasuke's anger turned toward confusion. _Where the hell did that come from?_ "What are you talking about?"

Kakashi sighed, once again, clearly getting tired of this. "Your kind of music, music without expression or passion behind it, is a _complete waste of my time_."

Sasuke's jaw slackened and he felt his back hit the wall behind him. He barely registered hearing the ding signaling the arrival of the elevator and the doors opening and closing.

It must've been a good half hour before he left the hall.

---

Downing another can of beer and crumpling it into trash, Sasuke tossed it somewhere with the rest of the litter on the floor. His fingers itched for another one. Which bottle was he on again? 6th? 7th? He had lost count.

He looked over at his desk with all his unfinished music. He swallowed thickly.

Walking towards it, a little unstable, he gripped the pages of paper between his hands.

_What's the point…just fuck it all._

And slowly, he burned every single sheet.

---

Neji placed a brown package of Gaara's desk. It was early in the morning and he had decided it would be a nice idea to get Gaara some breakfast. He had never seen the redhead really eat during the day and although he felt a little girly for doing it, he couldn't help but smile. Just then he felt someone tap him on his shoulder and he turned around to see none other than Naruto.

"Morning, Neji!" The blonde greeted him cheerfully. Neji swallowed the lump in his throat. It wasn't very often he was caught off-guard but he hadn't expected Naruto to show up for at least another half hour.

"M-morning Naruto." And before another word was spoken, he took off.

"Neji…?" Naruto shrugged it off. Perhaps the longhaired boy simply had to go to the bathroom or something. Glancing at Gaara's desk, he noticed the package. Now, normally, he was not a nosy person and didn't go snooping around in other people's things. But, for some reason, he couldn't really resist…and it wasn't like Gaara was going to show up anytime soon. Hopefully.

Taking a quick peek, Naruto realized it was breakfast food.

Now, Naruto might've been a tad bit thick, but it didn't take him that long to connect the food with the flustered Neji.

His eyes widened.

_Neji…likes Gaara?_

---

"Oiy. Naruto." The blonde turned to see Gaara running up toward him.

"Hey, Gaara. What's up?"

"My dad gave me these two tickets for this exhibition tonight. It looks pretty cool. I was wondering if you'd go check it out with me?"

"Hmm, tonight? Ah, I can't Gaara, Iruka said he wanted me to do something important and—"

"Aw come on Naruto," Gaara pleaded, "these tickets are the last of the bunch and I heard this show was supposed to be awesome."

"Gaara—" Two tickets were thrust into his hands.

"See you at 8 o'clock sharp, don't forget! You'd better be there!" Gaara yelled before waving and walking off.

Naruto sighed. As much as he wanted to go, he really didn't think he would able to. Turning around, he realized that Neji had been standing behind them the whole time and see the whole thing take place. When Naruto caught his eye though, he looked away.

It didn't take long for Naruto to reach a conclusion.

"Neji!" The boy stopped arranging the flowerpot he was working on, but did not turn around.

"Hey…so Gaara gave me these tickets and I was wondering if you wanted them?"

"No. It's fine," Neji replied rather stiffly. "He gave them to you. He wants you to go."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "Argh, but I have plans tonight and he gave these to me…now I'm giving them to you. It doesn't really make a difference does it? Take them."

Before Neji could respond, the tickets were in his hand. He opened his mouth to protest but it seemed pretty clear that Naruto wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Oh, and Neji?"

"Hm?"

"Good luck." The blonde flashed him a big smile.

Neji placed the tickets down on the table and let out a small smile.

---

Gaara paced around the steps of the building, getting a little impatient. He glanced at his watch. It was nearly 8. Where was Naruto? He reached into his pocket and dialed his number, but it was forwarded straight to voicemail. He sighed. Maybe forcing those tickets on him was a bad idea.

He sat around for another fifteen minutes or so, pretty close to deciding that Naruto wasn't about to show. Just as he was about to leave, he heard a voice call out his name.

"Gaara! I'm so sorry I'm late!" The redhead turned to see Neji running toward him, two tickets in hand.

Gaara frowned in confusion. "It's you? Where's Naruto?"

Neji pretended those words didn't bother him. "Naruto isn't coming tonight. He gave the tickets to me instead though."

The frown deepened and his voice became annoyed. "Gave them to you? Why would he do that? It's _him_ I want to see! God!"

Neji cast his eyes to the ground. "Do…do you really have to say it like that?"

Gaara bit his lip, suddenly aware of how awful his words had sounded. "No—I mean…it's not like that. I just…"

"The food on your desk this morning, that was me!" Neji let out.

"You?! Neji, you don't have to do stuff like that!" If this were any other day, he would've been grateful and said thanks. He would've been glad someone cared enough about him to prepare him breakfast. But just the fact that Naruto wasn't here standing with him, he felt the need to vent his frustration out on someone.

"Why? You didn't like it?" Neji questioned sadly.

"It was unnecessary." Gaara replied in a clipped tone.

Neji clenched his fists. "You're just upset that the person who did that…wasn't who you wanted it to be." His eyes were starting to sting. Gaara, upon seeing Neji's hurt expression, felt like such an asshole.

Great.

Now what the fuck was he supposed to do?

---

Sasuke ordered another round from the bartender. He was probably drunk beyond belief right now, but he couldn't care less. There was nowhere he needed to be. Why not just waste away?

A glass was placed before him. Sasuke peered to see it and, although he didn't exactly trust his vision at the moment, he could swear that it wasn't alcohol, but instead—

"Water."

Looking up, he noticed the bartender with a friendly smile on his face.

"You look like you could use it."

The Uchiha took a quick gulp before putting it back down. Normally, he was bad at socializing with people, but tonight…

"Do you have someone you love?"

The bartender looked surprise. Then, his smile returned.

"Yes, yes I do," he answered quietly. Sasuke took notice of a picture frame behind some bottles of alcohol and noticed a cute, little girl in it.

"Is it her?" He pointed to the picture.

Once again, the bartender looked surprise, but knew what Sasuke was pointing without even turning around.

"That's a picture of my daughter." He bent down to clean a glass. "She always wanted me to take her to the zoo to see the elephants and watch the giraffes. I told her I would if I ever had the time."

"Where is she now?" Sasuke asked.

"Dead. Died in a car accident two years ago. I never did ever get a chance to take her to the zoo…" The smile faded a bit.

Sasuke shifted on his seat. "I—I'm sorry."

The bartender looked at him, as though contemplating something. "You young people these days. Sometimes it only takes a day to turn you into an old man."

"Just some advice, feel free to take it or leave it. If you do have someone you care for, protect him or her with all your heart. Never let them go."

_The person I care most about…_

…_Doesn't have the best health._

…_Doesn't like sticking up for himself._

…_Won't have anyone to protect him._

With a nod, Sasuke got off his stool and left.

---

Naruto walked around the street aimlessly. Iruka had simply wanted him to meet with an old friend of his, which hadn't taken long at all and now, he was off to get some fresh air.

Before he knew it though, it had begun to rain. Naruto mopped up his wet hair. He had never really minded the rain, it didn't make much of a difference to him whether he was walking wet or dry.

Passing by a store, he saw a poster of Sharingan on the window. The rain, now coming down harder, was making the sign not stick as well. The ends were already curling and it looked as though it was about to fall down any second.

Before he even knew what was stopping him, he reached down and tugged the ends of the tape back in place, securing its position. Taking a step back, he stared at the picture. He knew he was, by now, getting thoroughly soaked, but he didn't seem to care.

"Sasuke…" he sighed. "I don't want to think of you…but I do."

He didn't know how much time had passed but, suddenly, the rain seemed to have stopped. He frowned. That didn't make sense though; it was clearly still raining. He looked up.

An umbrella.

Looking behind, he felt his breath hitch.

Sasuke.

The raven shrugged, a little uncomfortably. "I was just driving by…when I saw you. You're going to catch a cold if you don't get out of this."

"And why should you care?" Naruto asked, a bit weaker than he intended. Sasuke bit his lip just then and almost felt like laughing.

_He_ was making the great Uchiha Sasuke uncomfortable.

"I'm going home," said Naruto shortly. He began to walk away, praying that Sasuke would get the hint and just leave, but he wasn't so lucky.

"Let me take you home."

"That won't be needed, thanks." He tried to get a car but there didn't seem to be any on the street at this time.

Sasuke grabbed his arm gently. "Naruto…there aren't any cars out right now. Let me just take you home, ok?"

Wrenching out of his grasp, Naruto moved a little further up, knowing that it wasn't going to help him get a car, but at least it would put a little more distance between himself and Sasuke.

With a small growl of frustration, Sasuke tossed the umbrella aside completely, feeling the rainwater begin to drench him. He peeled off his thick, black jacket before wrapping it securely around Naruto's shoulders.

"Let me take you home."

---

Inside the car, Naruto patted himself dry with a spare towel. Sasuke watched him, amusement evident in his eyes. The blonde rubbed himself off sloppily, missing patches here and there. Sasuke snatched the towel from him.

"Idiot," he smiled softly before wiping away the excess water in a more efficient way.

Naruto couldn't help but blush. He looked at Sasuke's hand, the one holding the towel.

"Sasuke!" He cried out in horror, "you're hurt!"

Sasuke blinked at him before looking down at his own hand. There was a large, red cut there. Oh. That must've been his whole 'punching random objects around the house' phase, the one right before the drinking. He must've been so angry, he didn't even feel it.

Naruto lifted his hand gingerly. "Does it hurt?"

"No," Sasuke answered quietly. He could've retracted his hand…but something inside was stopping him.

_Why're you crying? It's not like you got hurt…_

The memory flashed through both of their minds in the same moment. Both were silent before Sasuke broke the silence.

"What're you doing wandering around so late anyways?"

Naruto grinned. "Iruka's got the night shift tonight at the hospital so I decided to go—" Before he could finish that thought, he let out a sneeze.

Sasuke chuckled. "My place isn't too far from here. Why don't we stop by there first…at least until you get a little more dry."

Naruto nodded lightly. It had felt so good to finally hear Sasuke laugh again.

Pressing the gas pedal, the car began to drive.

If Naruto hadn't been so preoccupied with his own thoughts, he would've seen Gaara's car come whooshing by, going in the opposite direction.

---

**Please Review!**


	7. Closer

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**SCHOOL'S OVERRRR XD…more time to update!**

**EDIT: I got a review today that stated that Lavender is not my original plot, which is true. I mentioned that in the beginning of chapter 3. You can all go back and check. I clearly stated Lavender is based off a Taiwanese drama. Now there shouldn't be anymore confusion, but I _did _mention that fact before.**

**Chapter 7: Closer**

**--**

Upon reaching Sasuke's apartment, Naruto slowly walked up the stairs and looked around. The place was clean and tidy, just as Sasuke had always been. Music scores were neatly arranged on shelves and a red, electric guitar rested in the corner.

"I'll be right back," Sasuke announced softly, before leaving the room.

Naruto nodded. He glanced around slowly once more. Then, on the glass table next to Sasuke's bed, he noticed something that made his eyes go wide.

The two lavender bottles.

He walked over to them and picked them up, smiling slightly. He couldn't believe his bottle had actually found Sasuke. Setting them back down gently, he made his way over to stereo resting next to the piano. There were three CDs on it. He could see a light flashing, meaning there was something inside. Lifting a finger, he lightly tapped the play button.

A solemn piano melody made its way gently throughout the room, drifting through Naruto's ears. This music…was beautiful. He didn't even notice when Sasuke returned and jumped when he felt the music stop. Glancing behind him, he saw that Sasuke had stopped the disc.

"I'm sorry, I didn't…" Naruto trailed off. Sasuke said nothing, simply handing him a towel.

"Do you write all of your own music?" Naruto asked. Again, Sasuke stood silently for a moment, before reaching for the three CDs and chucking them all in the trash.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, running over and scooping them up. "Why did you do that?"

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke responded quietly. "It's not like they're worth anything to anyone."

Naruto glanced at them in his hands. "Well…if you don't want them, do you think I could have them? I think they're really nice to listen to." Sasuke merely shrugged, which Naruto took as a sign of 'ok.'

The two took a seat on Sasuke's sofa, and Naruto couldn't help but let his gaze wander to the bottles resting on the table again.

"What are you looking at?" asked Sasuke, following the blonde's eyes.

"I thought I had lost that forever," Naruto replied.

"I found it backstage after one of my concerts. I wanted to find you, but you had already left."

"So…you never did forget me then, did you?" Naruto asked brightly, and Sasuke shook his head. No, he had indeed never forgotten about his childhood friend.

It was silent again for a moment longer before Sasuke left again, returning after a few minutes with two cups of tea. He sat back down and gave one to Naruto.

"Mmm, Sasuke…are you sure your hand is alright? You don't need to go to the hospital or anything, do you?"

Sasuke let out a small laugh. Leave it to Naruto to be overly concerned as usual. "Trust me; it's not that bad. I'll heal."

Naruto returned the laugh. "Ah, that's right. You're a big superstar now, it's not like you could go to the hospital anyways. All that would do is end up on the front page of the paper tomorrow and probably spread some nasty rumor. Being famous…it'd probably be hard to establish relationships with people, yeah? No one can really share the burden of what you're going through." He turned toward the other and could feel his cheeks heating up as he was met with an intense gaze in dark eyes.

"Do you…have people you love, Naruto?" Sasuke asked quietly, his eyes never leaving the whiskered face.

"Heh, yeah of course I do! I've got Iruka, and all my friends, and…" He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully, "and lots of other people too. What about you?"

Sasuke turned away. "The people I love are no longer alive."

Naruto bit his lip. He hated seeing Sasuke look so emotionless. He tugged at his jacket sleeve. "Find another."

"What?" Sasuke looked surprised to say the least.

Naruto nodded. "Find someone else that you can love. If you lose one person, find another. There will always be someone in the world that you can love and will love you back. You just haven't found them yet…or maybe you haven't realized it."

Sasuke pondered over Naruto's words, before letting his sight fall to Naruto's hand that was still clutching onto him. He raised an eyebrow.

Seeing that, Naruto suddenly realized how awkward his gesture had seemed and retracted his hand almost as though he had been burned. The blush that had creeped on his face before and almost disappeared had now returned full force.

Sasuke's lips tugged upward in a smile, something he had been doing a lot more recently. Slowly, he reached over and took Naruto's hand in his own, entwining their fingers together.

The blonde looked up quickly, almost as though he were about to say something, before the look in Sasuke's eyes silenced him. He felt his breath hitch as lips began to lean in to his…an eternity seemed to be passing…they were only centimeters away…

A buzzing sound filled the room loudly, breaking the silence. Sasuke seemed to have come out of a daze, pulling back and removing his hand from Naruto's. The blonde sighed internally. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Naruto, why didn't you come tonight?"

It was Gaara.

"I…I wasn't feeling well today," said Naruto, desperately trying to think of a response off the top of his head. He wasn't used to lying to people and he didn't like it.

"Are you alright?" He could hear the concern in Gaara's voice and that was making him feel worse.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine now. Don't worry."

"So are you at home then?"

"Yeah…I'm at home. Um, I'd like to go to sleep now. So I'll talk to you later, ok?" All the while, Naruto could feel Sasuke's curious gaze on him.

"Ok. Good night then."

"Night," Naruto responded before hanging up. He put his phone away.

"Who was that?" asked Sasuke, smirking.

"No one. It's nothing," Naruto replied, not too keen on speaking about Gaara at the moment. Sasuke nodded, not wanting to push the subject. But, as he placed his arm around the warm body next to him, he was determined to finish what he started.

Naruto stiffened when he felt an arm around him, but said nothing and began to relax. His eyes widened when Sasuke began to lean in again, this time though, he actually felt soft lips press against his for a moment before pull away.

They kissed again, and this time, Naruto allowed himself to close his eyes and enjoy the feeling. He couldn't believe he was actually here kissing one of the world's biggest singers. Just as he was about to completely melt into Sasuke's arms, he felt a tightening in his chest.

Pulling himself away from the other man, he began to pant heavily, trying to stand but only managing to collapse on the floor. He felt his airway beginning to constrict, and breathing was starting to get difficult.

"Naruto!" Sasuke wrapped an arm around him quickly, "what's wrong? What's happening?" He frantically began to look around the room for his phone, thinking of dialing the paramedics.

"N-no," the blonde choked out, "j-just get my pills…they're…they're in m-my left pocket," his eyes were beginning to water and his panting was getting heavier.

Sasuke immediately dove for the pocket, digging around frantically until he found the pack of pills. Ripping open the bag, he thrust them all into Naruto's hand, who lifted them weakly to his mouth. Sasuke followed up by grabbing his glass of water and tipping it into the blonde's mouth, giving him an easier way to swallow them.

It only took a few moments for the medicine to start taking effect. Naruto's labored breathing slowly returned back to normal and he stopped grasping at his chest. Sasuke helped him up, taking him to the bedroom where he lay the blonde down gently. He finally let out his anxious breath as Naruto gave him a gentle smile.

Sasuke tucked the blankets higher around him and reached out to stroke the yellow spikes. "God, Naruto…you really scared me." It surprised him how easy it was for him to say that. He hardly expressed that much emotion to anyone ever, but it had been so easy for him to lose control upon seeing the blonde in pain.

"I'm sorry," said Naruto, quietly looking away.

Sasuke smiled. "It's ok. Just try to get some sleep now, ok?"

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes, allowing sleep to take him, all the while feeling Sasuke's fingers lightly brushing through his hair.

--

Sasuke had dozed off himself before a sound brought him back from sleep. Blinking, he stood up groggily and rubbed his eyes. The sound was coming from Naruto's pocket, indicating that it was his phone again.

By this time, the blonde was beginning to stir. Clear, blue eyes opened and it took him a second to connect that someone was calling him. He flipped it open.

"Hello?"

Sasuke briefly wondered if it was the same person who had called earlier.

"Ah, I was at a friend's and I just lost track of time. I'm sorry, I'll be home soon." There was a few seconds of pause before Naruto hung up.

"Are you in trouble?" Sasuke asked.

"Eh, kinda. Iruka ended up coming home earlier than expected and he was just worried about where I was. It's not too bad, but I do have to go now."

Sasuke nodded, "I'll drive you."

"Thanks," Naruto smiled warmly.

Before they were about to leave, Sasuke went over to his table and picked up one of the lavender bottles. "Here, Naruto. It belongs to you."

The blonde's eyes softened and there was a light in his eyes that made Sasuke's stomach churn.

"Thanks again, Sasuke…for everything." He tilted his head upwards and kissed him softly on the cheek. Sasuke did everything he could to suppress his own blush that was threatening to blossom. He grabbed a tan hand.

"Come on, let's get you home."

--

Naruto made his way to work as quickly as he could. From the other night when he had gotten home, he was a bit emotionally drained, which led him to oversleep, which was also now why he was late.

Sneaking into the greenhouse, he spotted Neji on the computer and Lee working by the desk.

"Naruto! Where've you been?" Lee asked, looking up from his plants.

"Sorry I'm late guys, yesterday was sort of a rough day for me. I just ended up oversleeping."

"Are you feeling ok?" Neji asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," he smiled brightly.

"Hey Neji," he whispered quietly when Lee was out of earshot, "how did the concert go?"

Neji scoffed. "Don't ask."

_That's not a good sign…_Neji's tone held finality, signaling that he no longer wished to discuss the topic.

The door suddenly opened and Gaara made his way inside. Naruto had to admit, he had seen his friend look better. The redhead's eyes were somewhat bloodshot and his face looked sullen. He held a stack of folders in his hand, and, without warning, let them drop on the table, starting everyone.

"What the hell?!" Both Neji and Lee exclaimed and Naruto jumped. Gaara ignored the first two and focused his attention on the blonde.

"Why are you late, Naruto?"

"I…I had a rough night," he responded, slightly nervous.

"Yeah. I bet." Gaara's tone was monotonous and his eyes seemed somewhat lifeless. Naruto thought that, from the phone call yesterday, the redhead had been ok about him missing the concert, but he was clearly mistaken.

"I…" Naruto didn't know what to say. Gaara had never acted this way before to him. Instead, he chose to stare at the ground.

"Hey," Neji pushed out of his chair angrily, "what the hell is your problem? He said he had a rough night, ok? Stop being such an asshole. You make it sound as though Naruto did something horrible to you."

"Well maybe he did," said Gaara, crossing his arms over his chest.

Neji grit his teeth. "Please, will you grow up? Stop moping around and go do something productive with your time. Don't come around here if all we're gonna get from you is this crappy attitude."

Both Naruto and Lee looked at their friend, astonished. Neji rarely lost his cool. Even Gaara seemed surprised.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Gaara whispered quietly, before leaving the room.

"Uh…it's alright." Naruto spoke, though he knew Gaara could not hear him. He pretended to shake the whole thing off, but inside it was troubling him a little. He hated when people were upset with him. It made him feel uncomfortable.

Deciding that he should at least attempt to patch things up, he followed Gaara outside and found him sitting on the fence, gazing at the green fields that surrounded them.

"Gaara?" Naruto approached him timidly. When he was met with no response, he felt himself getting a little frustrated.

"I'm sorry, ok? It's not like I didn't go on purpose."

Green eyes flashed at him. "If you didn't want to go fine, but why would you even think to invite Neji in your place? Do you know how bad it was last night?"

"Oh…" Naruto didn't think it could have been that bad, though apparently it had been.

Gaara rested his eyes on him for a few minutes longer. Finally, he sighed. "It's fine, Naruto, forget about it. Just make sure it doesn't happen again, alright?"

"Ok! I promise," Naruto smiled, happy he was forgiven.

Gaara felt the breeze ruffle through his hair. "So what exactly happened to you last night anyways?"

Naruto sighed. He wished Gaara could just drop the subject. "Nothing…well, I mean, I wasn't feeling well…and then…ah, why am I explaining myself to you anyways? It's not like you're my mother."

He had meant that remark as a joke, but clearly Gaara didn't take it that way. His eyes seemed to harden once again. "Right…I'm not anything to you, am I?"

He gracefully stepped off the fence and returned inside, leaving a gaping Naruto behind.

--

Sasuke was having a bad day. From the moment he had stepped outside his apartment that morning, there were about fifteen people gracing his doorstep, with cameras and recorders in hand.

Fuck paparazzi.

Shoving his way past all of them and not answering any questions, he barricaded himself in his car and took off, driving dangerously fast, and not knowing where the hell he was even off to.

Pulling up to a nearly deserted parking lot, he took a deep breath and steadied himself. Looking around, he saw there was only one other car close by. But he stopped as he saw who the other driver was. It was that redhead that Naruto worked with, the one that had been serving at the corporate party that other time.

_What did Naruto say his name was…Gaara? Yeah I think that's it. _Sasuke rolled down his window and called out to him.

Gaara shifted his eyes when he heard his name being called. Normal people probably would've been star struck at seeing the celebrity in person and so close, but Gaara merely looked at him before turning away. "Oh. It's you."

"Is Naruto around?" Sasuke asked. Gaara sent him an annoyed expression.

"No. He's working at the greenhouse. That's what most people do during the day, you know. Work."

Sasuke didn't like the way he was being spoken to but decided to ease off. This was supposed to be one of Naruto's friends.

"Well, as long as he's working, that's good."

That caught Gaara's attention.

"What do you mean by that?" he demanded.

"I mean I'm glad he's ok enough to be working, that's all." Sasuke peered at him. "Do me a favor though, and watch over him ok?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Gaara snapped out.

Sasuke was about to strangle the other man. "Naruto just didn't feel well, alright?" He started his engine, having had enough with talking to this weirdo.

_How does he know Naruto wasn't feeling well yesterday?_

Gaara stood rooted to the spot, not knowing what to say or how to respond. As Sasuke pulled out of the parking lot, he threw in some parting words.

"Naruto was with me last night. He seemed to be in pretty bad shape at one point, so I just wanted to check he was doing ok."

_What?!_

_Naruto was with me last night._

Nothing else seemed to register in his mind.

"Naruto…Naruto was with _you_ last night?" Gaara felt all the color drain from his face.

Sasuke said nothing, simply letting a small smirk grace his handsome features, before rolling up the window and driving off.

--

**I know it was short and I'm sorry for that but I didn't have all that much to work with for this chapter. And I know that Sasuke previously said he had a girlfriend and now he's pretty much with Naruto…it's sort of confusing. But things will be revealed later on.**

**Please review!**


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